Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed mixed on Monday with the old-crop months under pressure amid waning export business and ample world oilseed supplies, traders said. New-crop contracts found support from prospects that the speedy US Midwest corn planting pace could mean more corn acres at the expense of soyabeans. May soyabeans were down 6-3/4 cents at $6.09-1/2, while new-crop November was up 3/4 cent at $6.03-3/4 per bushel. The price spread between the two months shrank 7-1/2 cents.
"The inverse should shrink there's plenty of stocks out there," said one CBOT floor broker. Much of the premium built into the front months occurred on concerns about Brazil's soyabean crop due to a drought late in the growing season.
"Brazil is probably 74-75 percent harvested, maybe a little more now we've got a supply. While world stocks are not as burdensome as they were we've got ample supplies coming back into the market," said Don Rose, analyst with US Commodities in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Firms also continued to roll May positions before the start of the futures delivery period at month's end, adding pressure to the front month.
Weekend weather was mostly favourable for planting in the Midwest, forecasters said. There were some showers in the western Midwest but the amounts were mostly light, causing few slowdowns in corn planting. Export business was quiet over the weekend as importers turn to South America for freshly harvested beans.
US export inspections for soyabeans were better than expected but down from levels seen six to eight weeks ago. The US Department of Agriculture said 16.977 million bushels of soyabeans were inspected for export last week, above trade estimates for 8.0 million to 12.0 million.
Support stemmed from firm cash markets at interior locations as country sales were light as farmers focused on planting. Processors continue to find soyabeans a tough buy, which has sparked some to schedule seasonal downtime.
Soyameal futures followed soyabeans, with old-crop months losing ground to new-crop. May meal settled 40 cents lower at $187 per ton and new-crop October closed 70 cents higher at $185. The other months settled 80 cents down to $2 up.
There were lingering concerns about the potential for soyameal to find added competition from US corn gluten feed in domestic feed rations. That was a possibility if gluten imports back off following the European Union's decision to block imports of US corn gluten animal feed unless there is proof they are free of an illegal genetically modified organism.
The soyaoil market was also lower, following the weakness in soyabeans. May soyaoil was down 0.37 cent at 22.27 cents per lb., while the deferred were 0.34 weaker to steady. Malaysian palm oil futures were little changed overnight, with dealers cautious about taking fresh positions ahead of this week's export data.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's trade data on Friday showed that large speculators cut their net longs in CBOT soyabeans, soyameal and soyaoil during the week ended April 12.
Funds were nearly even in soyabeans: long 48,109 lots, down 4,342, and short 47,117, up 3,337 lots from the week before. In soyameal, large speculators were long 22,188 lots, down 2,526 from the prior week, and short 17,891, up 645 lots. For soyaoil, there were long 27,425 futures, down 3,591, and short 14,314, up 731.
Comments
Comments are closed.