Soyabeans close higher

The Chicago Board of Trade soyabean market ended higher on Tuesday, getting a boost from the rally in corn, traders said. Soyabeans "were just followers," one CBOT trader said. November soyabeans closed 5-1/2 cents higher at $6.54-3/4 and January soya was up 4-1/2 at $6.67-1/4.
December corn settled 7-1/2 cents higher at $3.51, near a 10-year high for the spot month. Corn for December 2007 delivery ended 3 cents up at $3.56-3/4. The feature in corn was huge rolling of long December positions into March and other deferred months by commodity index funds, traders said.
There was also speculative buying sparked by an announcement from investment bank Goldman Sachs that it would increase its investments in commodity index funds to $110 billion as of January, from $70 billion previously. Funds have been moving more speculative money into the commodity markets, which has attracted wider buying interest and sparked price volatility.
Soyabeans have followed the moves in corn, trying to keep pace as the current price relationship entices farmers to plant a lot more corn next spring at the expense of fewer bean acres. The soya market is trying to keep up with the grains to secure enough acres to meet crush and export demand next year. The soya market was weak when corn was consolidating. Soya was also pressured by another round of big November deliveries of 1,674 lots.
The current US soya crop record was 3.1 billion bushels harvested in 2004. US 2006/07 ending stocks were also seen growing to 584 million bushels, the average of analysts' estimates.
That's up from the government's October forecast of 555 million. USDA late on Monday reported 90 percent of the US soyabean crop had been harvested, in line with trade estimates and slightly behind the five-year average of 91 percent.
Meteorlogix weather service said on Tuesday damp weather was slowing harvest in Michigan, Indiana and in Ohio, but no harvest concerns were seen elsewhere in the Midwest.
Spot basis bids for soyabeans in the Midwest were firm at crushing plants on Tuesday as processors tried to entice more farmer selling, cash dealers said.
The products turned up as soya rebounded. CBOT December meal closed 90 cents higher at $197.40 per ton, with the deferreds up $1.80 to $2.70. December soyaoil closed up 0.13 cent at 27.67 cents per lb, with the deferreds up 0.03 to 0.12 cent. Malaysian palm oil futures closed lower.