Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade fell to new contract lows in the May and July months early Thursday amid bearish exports and bright weather prospects for the South American soya crop, traders said. At 10:02 am CST (1602 GMT), the nearby March contract was down 6 cents at $5.17 per bushel. The deferred months were down from 5-1/2 to 6 cents per bushel. Fund selling drove the market lower with Refco Inc and R.J. O'Brien featured sellers.
The market also was hit by a bearish number for the US December soya crush in the Census Bureau's crush report that was released early on Thursday, they said.
"Exports weren't good, there are good rains moving into South America and the crush wasn't as good as they expected," a trader said.
Traders said updated export data from the US Department of Agriculture failed to ward off a downtrend in soya futures prices.
USDA early Thursday said US soya export sales last week totalled 519,300 tonnes. That's below trade estimates for 600,000 to 800,000 tonnes. Exports were quiet overnight.
The Census Bureau's crush report released early Thursday also was bearish for soya futures. Census showed US soya crush in December at 150.034 million bushels. That's below an average of trade estimates for 151.0 million.
Cash basis bids in the Midwest Thursday were narrowly mixed on steady demand and farmer selling was slow.
Technical support in the March contract was at $5.12-1/2 per bushel and resistance at $5.25. The nine-day relative strength index for March closed Wednesday at 45. Technical traders view an RSI of 30 or less as an oversold market and 70 or more as an overbought market.
March soyameal was down $2.00 per ton at $155.40 per ton. Slow exports of soyameal and the tumble in soya weighed on soyameal futures.
USDA said US soyameal export sales last week totalled 47,100 tonnes. That's below trade estimates for 50,000 to 100,000 tonnes.
Census showed US soyameal stocks at the end of December at 271,306 tons. That's above an average of trade estimates for 208,000.
New contract lows were set in soyaoil futures and March soyaoil was down 0.11 cent per lb at 19.41 cents. The drop in soya pressured soyaoil and there was only minor underpinning stemming from the export sector.
USDA early Thursday said US soyaoil exports last week totalled 16,700 tonnes. That's above trade estimates for 5,000 to 10,000 tonnes.
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