US soyabean futures firmed on Monday on export demand and uncertainty about yield prospects as the harvest begins in the heart of the Midwest crop belt, analysts said. Corn fell on expectations of continued, burdensome US supplies, and wheat sagged on technical selling.
As of 12:25 p.m. CDT (1725 GMT), CBOT November soyabeans were up 1 cent at $9.69-3/4 per bushel. December corn was down 3-1/2 cents at $3.51-1/4 a bushel and December wheat was down 5-1/4 cents at $4.43-3/4 a bushel.
Soyabean futures climbed to session highs after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) through its daily reporting system said private exporters sold a total of 387,000 tonnes of US soyabeans, including 261,000 tonnes to China, the world's top soya buyer. "Export shipments through the first two weeks of the marketing year already exceed the seasonal pace needed to reach USDA's target by 45 million bushels. Said another way, we have to produce a big crop to keep up with this demand," INTL FCStone chief commodity economist Arlan Suderman said in a note to clients.
Uncertainty about whether the US soyabean harvest will meet the USDA's forecast for a record crop totaling 4.3 billion bushels added support. US and global supplies of corn, on the other hand, should remain ample. The USDA last week forecast a US corn yield of 169.9 bushes per acre and 2017-18 ending stocks at a hefty 2.3 billion bushels. That factor weighed on CBOT corn futures.
Analysts expected the USDA later on Monday to report the US corn harvest as 10 percent complete and the soyabean harvest 5 percent complete. CBOT wheat futures fell, reversing from early strength. The CBOT December contract turned lower on a lack of follow-through buying after reaching a one-month high at $4.50-3/4 a bushel.
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