RTRS- Syngenta sees possible soybean seed shortage in Brazil

SAO PAULO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Plans to plant a record soybean crop in Brazil could leave the No. 2 producer with a seed and pesticide shortage, the local head of Syngenta SYNN.VX, the world's largest agrochemicals company, said on Thursday.

Brazil's area of soybeans to be planted in 2012/2013 will likely surpass the 24.8 million hectares (61.3 million acres) last year by 2 million hectares, or 8 percent, as farmers eye record-high soybean future prices SX2, Laercio Giampani of Switzerland-based Syngenta said.

Brazil has transformed into an agricultural powerhouse in recent years, but hopes of surpassing the United States and becoming the world's top soybean producer could prove elusive due to lack of planning and infrastructure limitations.

The country's soybean seed demand will likely increase by more than 2 million bags, and most seed suppliers in the country have already cleared their inventory for the season, Giampani told Reuters.

"There will be an increased demand and we are looking at the possibility of having a lack of certain products in Brazil," he said just a few weeks before planting begins.

"If we have an unusual attack of insects or a disease, we may have a lack of pesticides," he added.

A drought resulted in a drop in output of Brazil's 2011/2012 soybean crop, and farmers are aiming for a comeback this year. They are choosing soybeans over cotton and corn, which are more expensive to produce and ship.

Grains markets are looking to Brazil to step up and help fill the gap in global supplies left by the worst drought in more than 50 years over the U.S. grain belt, the largest producer and exporter of soybeans and corn.

Local producers will not literally run out of seed but they could be forced to turn to less than optimal varieties such as beans harvested from the previous crop that were never intended for planting, which will lead to a drop yields typically.

RTRS- UPDATE 1-US crops may get a welcome drink next week

"The biggest change is for improved rainfall amounts next week starting at mid-week. Most of the Midwest will receive some rains of 0.75 to 1.25 inches, with local areas getting up to 3.00 inches," said Andy Karst, a meteorologist for World Weather Inc. "Previously it looked like 0.25 to 0.75 inch."

After weeks of relentless heat stress from the worst U.S. drought in more than half a century, deteriorating corn and soybean crops were getting some relief by light rains during the past few days.

"This week we saw a decline in drought in the lower 48 states for the third week in a row, but the overall decline was small," said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist for the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska.

"Last week drought covered 62.46 percent of the area, and this week 61.77 percent was in drought," he said.

Fuchs said the weekly Drought Monitor released on Thursday showed a one-in-50-year drought was under way in the United States, and no significant letup was in sight from the devastating impact on crops and livestock.

The moderating weather this week and next week came too late to help much of the corn crop which had been planted early and bore the brunt of high heat and drought this summer. Some late-planted soybeans may benefit from the turn to cooler and damper weather.

Cooler temperatures were keeping the evaporation rates lower than the rapid disappearance of moisture during the hottest July ever.

Temperatures should remain in the 70s to 80s degrees Fahrenheit Thursday through the middle of next week, then rise to the low 90s, Karst said.

Commodity Weather Group (CWG) on Thursday said better-than-expected rains of a half to one inch were received in Iowa and Wisconsin on Wednesday. Showers would move across the Midwest later in the week.

However, more than a third of the Midwest's soybean belt remained under stress from drought, including parts of central Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, central and southeastern South Dakota and a few spots in western Iowa, CWG said.

Still, the moisture will provide little benefit to crops that already have been severely damaged by the heat wave, according to CWG.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly crop progress report released on Monday showed that domestic corn conditions stabilized after nine weeks of ratings declines, and soybean crop conditions improved slightly.

However, the ratings for each crop remained at their lowest levels since the last serious drought in 1988.

As the worst drought in more than a half century took its toll, investors went on a buying spree, boosting corn prices more than 50 percent from late May to record highs above $8 per bushel.

The USDA last Friday released data showing deep cuts for this year's corn and soybean output as the drought spread through America's bread basket.

The agency said the 2012 corn crop would fall below 11.0 billion bushels for the first time in six years and the number of bushels yielded per acre was at a 17-year low. Soybean production was forecast at a five-year low and soy yield per acre at nearly a 10-year low.

RTRS- ADVISORY-Cargo surveyor SGS issues palm export data on Aug 27

Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance will release Aug 1-20 Malaysian palm oil exports data together with the Aug 1-25 data on Aug. 27 instead of Aug. 20 and Aug. 25 in view of the Eid ul-Fitri holidays.

RTRS- UPDATE 1-India's July refined palm oil imports down 9 pct on mth

MUMBAI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - India's refined palm oil imports fell 9.3 percent in July in the second straight monthly decline as importers feared the world's biggest buyer would raise duties on purchases to cut cheap supplies from Indonesia,industry data showed on Thursday.

Importers bought 112,611 tonnes of refined, bleached and deodorised palmolein in July as compared with 124,125 tonnes in the previous month, the data from the Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA)showed, slightly above the average of a Reuters poll.

The government finally raised the cost of imports from Aug. 1.

India's domestic refiners have been demanding that imports be made costlier after Indonesia, the world's No. 1 palm oil producer, changed its export taxes in October 2011 to promote downstream products.

Refined palm oil imports rose 80 percent in the first nine months of the year from November over the same period a year ago.

Importers bought 486,517 tonnes of crude palm oil, up 27.7 percent on the month, the data showed.

About 80 percent of India's vegetable oil imports are palm oil, and refined product now makes up about a third of that, up from around 16 percent before Indonesia's tax changes.

The spread between crude and refined palm oils narrowed to $33 per tonne from $95 a year ago, B.V. Mehta, the executive director of the Mumbai-based trade body, said in the statement.

Trader's Highlight

DJI- NEW YORK, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 closed at its highest level since early April on Thursday after comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel that appeared to support the European Central Bank's efforts to fight the region's debt crisis, while Cisco Systems jumped after it raised its dividend.

The Nasdaq outperformed the market after Cisco shares jumped nearly 10 percent and Apple Inc AAPL.O shares hit a new closing high of $636.34, while broad gains across most S&P 500 sectors offset a gloom from Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT.N.

The day's gain was the first significant move since a 2 percent gain on Aug 3. Since then, the S&P 500 has been moving mostly higher, but in a slow motion.

"I think the biggest plus today is the fact that people realize that we are now really in an upward trend. We faced resistance but for over a week, we moved higher slowly without a significant pullback. That is what's pulling people in, although volume remains low," said Frank Gretz, market analyst at Wellington Shields & Co in New York.

"Some say we are climbing the 'wall of worry.' I think we are climbing the wall of low expectations. Because nobody is expecting anything good, it is easy to move up on any news."

Merkel said ECB chief Mario Draghi's vow to do all that is necessary to defend the euro is in line with what European leaders have been saying. Some traders took that as a sign Germany may be drawing nearer to backing purchases of sovereign bonds of troubled European nations such as Spain.

Facebook Inc FB.O fell to a new low of $19.69 as shares hit the market after the expiration of a lockup period, which had prevented sales by some insiders. The stock ended down 6.3 percent at $19.87.

Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O rose 9.6 percent to $19.02 after the company said it would hike its dividend 75 percent after surprisingly strong results late Wednesday. The dividend increase countered a gloomy outlook from Cicso on the debt crisis and recession in Europe.

NYMEX- NEW YORK, Aug 16 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures rose to three-month highs on Thursday as apparent German support for the European Central Bank's efforts to combat the euro zone crisis lifted equities, pressured the dollar and fed hopes for more economic stimulus from central banks.

CBOT SOYBEAN- Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell, setting back from Wednesday's 2.3 percent rise, as rains crossing parts of the U.S. Midwest lifted soy yield prospects, traders said.

* Commodity Weather Group said better-than-expected rains of 0.5 to 1.0 inch (1.3-2.5 cm) fell in Iowa and Wisconsin on Wednesday, and updated midday forecasts showed a better chance for rains next week than earlier outlooks had indicated.

• Trade remained light, with estimated volume in CBOT soybean futures on track to fall below 130,000 contracts for a third straight day.

• Additional pressure stemmed from USDA Farm Service Agency data that some traders said implied an increase in U.S. 2012 soybean planted acreage from USDA's Aug. 10 crop report.

• Firm domestic cash soybean markets underpinned spot September soybeans SU2, limiting losses. Farmer soy sales have slowed while cash crush margins remain strong, traders said.

• Plans to plant a record soybean crop in Brazil could leave the No. 2 producer with a seed and pesticide shortage, the local head of Syngenta SYNN.VX, the world's largest agrochemicals company, said.

• USDA reported export sales of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 1.022 million tonnes (old and new crop years combined), topping trade expectations for 750,000 to 950,000 tonnes.

• USDA reported weekly U.S. soymeal sales at 130,700 tonnes, below trade expectations for 150,000 to 250,000, and soyoil sales at a net 1,500 tonnes, below expectations.

• USDA said exporters reported the sale of 123,900 tonnes of U.S. soymeal to the Philippines for 2012/13 delivery.

FCPO- SINGAPORE, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures edged up to a near 2-week high on Thursday as exports staged a tentative recovery, signalling stocks could come under pressure.

Futures had dropped on Tuesday to the lowest since last October, as higher output and slower exports initially raised concerns over swelling stocks in Malaysia.

But prices recovered after Wednesday's export data showed signs of recovery for the first half of August, which could put pressure on stocks that hit a 5-month high in July.

"It looks like there has been some profit-taking from traders who shorted a few days back. After all, the market has come down by almost 300 ringgit," said a Singapore-based trader with a foreign commodities house.

The benchmark November palm oil futures FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 1.4 percent to close at 2,942 ringgit ($941) per tonne, just off a high of 2,948 ringgit, a level last seen on Aug. 3.

The contract hit a low of 2,820 ringgit on Tuesday, a level not seen since Oct. 18 last year.

Total traded volumes stood at 30,017 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets were mixed on Thursday with Malaysia falling after six days of gains and Singapore eking out slim gains led by commodities stocks such as Noble Group Ltd.

Malaysia's main index .KLSE finished down 0.22 percent after a choppy session while Singapore's Straits Times Index .FTSTI was up 0.03 percent. Noble Group NOBG.SI and Wilmar International Ltd WLIL.SI each advanced more than 2 percent.

Oil prices, which steadied near three-month highs, were supportive to sentiment in commodities but the broader market remained fragile due to worries about the global economy.

Jakarta's Composite Index .JKSE extended its gain for a third session, rising 0.45 percent to the highest close in more than three months. The market reopens on Thursday after six days of holidays.