US soyabean futures rose Wednesday on commodity fund buying at the start of a new month along with fresh export demand, analysts said. Wheat and corn futures followed the firm trend, with corn buoyed by bullish weekly ethanol data. As of 11:45 am CST (1745 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade March soyabean futures were up 9 cents at $10.33-1/2 per bushel. The contract rallied after finding chart support at $10.17, a near three-week low.
March corn was up 4-3/4 cents at $3.64-1/2 a bushel and March wheat was up 8 cents at $4.28-3/4 a bushel. Soyabeans rallied as trade resumed after the daily 45-minute pause, supported by confirmation from the US Department of Agriculture that private exporters sold 236,700 tonnes of US soyabeans to unknown destinations in the last day.
CBOT soyabean futures had been in retreat for the last week as improving weather bolstered soya crop prospects in South America, after mid-January floods in Argentina lifted futures to a six-month high.
Corn got a boost when the US Energy Information Administration reported production of corn-based ethanol in the latest week rose to a record-high 1.06 million barrels per day, surpassing a peak struck earlier in January. However, ethanol futures fell after the EIA data showed that stocks of the corn-based biofuel rose to 21.87 million barrels, the most since May.
CBOT wheat posted the biggest advance in the grains complex on a percentage basis, but traders said the move was primarily technical. Commodity funds hold a large net short position in CBOT wheat futures, leaving the market vulnerable to bouts of short-covering.
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