U.S. Soy Supply at 48-Year Low as Brazil Ships Held: Commodities

Dry weather and shipping delays in South America are boosting demand for soybeans from the U.S., the world’s largest grower and exporter, and producing the tightest inventories in almost five decades. Stockpiles will shrink to a nine-year low of 130 million bushels on Aug. 31, before the next U.S. harvest, according to the average of 31 analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Reserves will total 4.2 percent of demand, the lowest since 1965, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. The USDA will update its estimates tomorrow. The drop in supplies will help send Chicago futures up 8.6 percent to an average $16.16 a bushel through August, Morgan Stanley said in a Feb. 4 report. Prices have...