Soyabean futures firm

Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade ended firm on Tuesday, bouncing back late in the session as wheat rallied to new highs, traders said. But soyabean prices kept range-bound and were less volatile than either corn or wheat as traders evened soya positions before USA's monthly crop report on Wednesday.
"We're still uncertain what to expect out of the USDA tomorrow. Yields in that market have the potential to surprise a few people," said Gavin Merger, analyst with Iowa Grain. An average of analysts' estimates points toward USDA raising its estimate of the US soyabean crop, currently at 2.625 billion bushels, with a yield of 41.5 bushels per acre.
But uncertainty surrounding the yield projection, given the dryness in the southern crop belt during August, is discouraging traders from being aggressive ahead of the report. Analysts polled by Reuters on average expected USDA to raise its soyabean forecast to 2.649 billion bushels with an average yield of 41.905 bushels per acre.
"Beans were kind of a toss up. We expect we're not going to be too far off trend line but we're not sure if it will be a half bushel up or down," said one CBOT trader referring to the average yield estimate. September, now in delivery, closed 1-1/2 cent higher at $9.05 per bushel. New-crop November ended 2-1/2 cents firmer at $9.20-1.2.
The soyaoil market ended firm and soyameal closed mixed after a choppy session ahead of the monthly USDA report. CBOT soyameal was down 50 cents to up 50 cents per ton; December was 20 cents lower at $257.20.
The soyaoil market settled 0.05 to 0.20 cent per lb. firmer, with December up 0.20 at 37.88 cents. Oilseeds data released by Statistics Canada on Tuesday was bearish. Canadian canola stocks as of July 31 at 1.82 million tonnes, above trade estimates ranging from 1.2 million to 1.7 million.
There was a cold spell moving through the upper Midwest this week, with southern Minnesota and northern Iowa expected to see a frost or light freeze on Wednesday and Thursday morning, a private forecaster said. But temperatures were not expected to stay cold long enough to cause any damage to the maturing soyabean crop, he said.
USDA reported late Monday that 32 percent of the soyabean crop was dropping leaves, an indication of maturity, ahead of the five-year average of 25 percent. Additionally, the government rated 56 percent of the crop as rated good to excellent, unchanged from the previous week. Overnight September deliveries were heavy which weigh on the September soyabean and soyameal contracts.
In soyabeans, there were 1,539 deliveries. A Man Professional Clearing customer issued 905 and stopped 824. There were 413 soyameal deliveries, with Man Professional Clearing customer stopping 161. Soyaoil deliveries were at 950 lots, which were met by scattered stoppers.