SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazil soybean trade was choppy on unfavorable foreign
exchange rates despite surging international prices, industry participants said
Tuesday.

  The Chicago Board of Trade's July soybeans futures contract settled 15 1/2
cents higher at $11.62 and November soybeans finished 9 cents higher at $9.96
on Tuesday.

  Industry participants said, however, that despite the higher international
soybean prices, the unfavorable forex dampened trade. Brazilian soy producers
were reluctant to sell as they received less cash for their beans in the local
currency.

  One dollar dove to 2.03 Brazilian reals from around BRL2.08 on Monday.

  "The CBOT price is beautiful, but the dollar has been terrible and trade has
stopped," said a chief trader at a U.S. soy exporter.

  Brazilian producers have sold 63% of their soy as of May 15 compared with 61%
the week before and a five-year average of 67%, according to local consultancy
Celeres.

  Overall, Brazil's trade for soy has slowed this month after brisk sales last
month largely due to Chinese buying, said industry participants.

  These Chinese buyers have now stepped out of the market due to the high
prices, the trader said.

  On the other hand, Brazil has been shipping good volumes of soymeal this
month, said industry participants. This is as a result of Argentina - the
largest exporter of meal - having a smaller soy crop and being largely out of
the market, they said.

  Soymeal trade, however, was brisk as the U.S. tends to focus on its own
domestic soymeal needs and is also in its inter-harvest period. Because of
this, meal buyers have turned to Brazil, the trader said.

  Steve Cachia, an analyst at local consultancy Cerealpar, agreed that the
forex took the shine off the CBOT rally Tuesday.

  Prices didn't move much on the local spot market, with soybean prices at
Paranagua, the main grains port, trading at around BRL53 per 60-kilogram bag.
This compared to around BRL54 per bag last week.

  Cachia said that with over 60% of the soy sold, many farmers already have the
resources to pay for the next harvest and will start to speculate. They will
hold out for better prices, he said.

  Cerealpar said buyers Tuesday were looking for around 40 cents over the July
contract on CBOT, while sellers wanted 43 cents over the same contract.

  David Brew, a broker at Brasoja in the south of Brazil, said the soy trade
has been brisk in Rio Grande do Sul, the No. 3 soy-producing state. Final beans
are being harvested there.

  Logistics problems have also occurred in Rio Grande do Sul, he said, because
of a large amount of wheat and corn occupying silo capacity as the new beans
arrived.

  If the drought hadn't reduced the soy harvest in Rio Grande do Sul by 2
million tons, there would not have been enough silo capacity for a larger
harvest, Brew said.

  Brazil is the world's No. 2 soy producer after the U.S.