US soyabean futures rose for the fifth straight day on Friday, hitting their highest in 5-1/2 weeks as concerns about parched soil in Argentina underpinned prices, traders said. Signs of strong export demand also lent support to soyabeans which were on track for their biggest weekly gain in three months. Corn futures also rose on the back of better-than-expected data from the US government.
Wheat was trading in negative territory, weighed down by profit taking and technical sales following two straight days of gains. At 11:21 am CST (1710 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade March soyabean futures were up 6 cents at $9.79 a bushel. Soyabean futures have risen 2.0 percent this week, which would be their biggest weekly rally since a 2.9 percent gain in mid-October.
The US Agriculture Department on Friday morning said weekly export sales of soyabeans totalled 1.528 million tonnes, topping market forecasts that ranged from 800,000 to 1.4 million tonnes. CBOT March corn futures were 1/2 cent higher at $3.52 while CBOT March soft red winter wheat was down 2-1/2 cents at $4.22-3/4 a bushel.
Weekly corn export sales of 1.891 million tonnes were well above analysts' estimates that ranged from 500,000 tonnes to 800,000 tonnes. Export sales of wheat were 190,500 tonnes. Forecasts for wheat export sales ranged from 200,000 to 500,000 tonnes. For the week, CBOT corn has risen 1.7 percent while CBOT soft red winter wheat was up 0.5 percent.
Persistent dryness in Argentina has raised concern about harvest prospects in the world's third-largest soyabean producer. CBOT soyameal hit its highest since December 11 on Friday and also was up for a fifth day running.
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