Soyabeans end firm

Soyabean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade ended firm on Monday on follow-through technical buying from Friday's strong close and contract highs in overnight electronic trading, floor traders said.
The continued rally in the vegetable oils markets, including soyabean oil, was a driving force behind the strength in soyabeans. Additionally, the dollar falling to a 20-month low against the euro was a supportive sign for commodities, steering more investment dollars into the grains and soya complex, traders said.
But the market moved off contracts highs made overnight. "When the day market opens up, the commercial hedging hits the market," said analyst Charlie Sernatinger of Forties Clearing Americas. "So the beans went down on south American selling, a little bit of US selling, a little profit taking," Sernatinger added.
January soyabeans closed 3-3/4 cents higher at $6.88 bushel, after reaching a contract high of $6.95-3/4 overnight. The back months ended 4 to 8 cents higher. CBOT soyaoil ended 0.10 to 0.26 cent firmer, with December up 0.22 at 29.11 per lb., after surging to a contract high of 29.34 overnight.
Most of the months made fresh tops overnight on Monday. That followed the overnight trend in which Malaysian crude palm futures hit 2-1/2-year highs, closing 2.4 percent higher, and Indonesian palm oil prices touched a record high.
Commercial buying was a supportive feature in CBOT soyaoil and soyabeans. Funds were also net buyers of roughly 1,000 soyabean futures, 500 to 1,000 soyaoil and 500 to 1,000 soyameal.
Demand for vegetable oil is strong in Asian markets, especially with the boom in the biodiesel market. Last week, the price of vegetable oil in China rose 25 percent on strong demand, analysts said. Underscoring that demand, the US Agriculture Department on Monday confirmed the sale of 30,000 tonnes of US soyaoil to China for 2006/07 delivery.
Chicago soyameal followed the complex higher, but was the weakest leg. Soyaoil gained on soyameal, a consistent trend, as global processors were becoming more focused on crushing for oil to meet biodiesel demand.
December soyameal closed $1.10 higher at $195.90 per ton, with the back months up $1.30 to $3.50. US soyabean export business has been slowing since late last week, given the climb in futures prices, traders said.
Export inspections data issued by the US Agriculture Department on Monday was disappointing. The government reported only 21.5 million bushels of soyabeans were inspected for export last week, below trade estimates for 30 million to 36 million. Also there was talk that China bought two or three cargoes of Brazilian soyabeans over the weekend.
Weekly trade data by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission was issued on Monday afternoon, instead of Friday, due to the US Thanksgiving holiday last week. Commodity funds slightly cut their net long futures/options position, increased their net longs in soyaoil and soyameal futures/options.