Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade settled lower on Tuesday but came off their lows late, boosted by a turnaround in corn, traders said.
The slight setback followed a climb in front months of 13-14 cents per bushel since late last week. A strong US cash market was supportive and continued to underpin prices as farmers were reluctant sellers of soyabeans hoping for higher prices.
Corn/soyabean spreading was a feature as the spread began to readjust after the recent climb in beans over corn, traders said. CBOT soya futures closed 1-1/4 to 5 cents per bushel lower.
November was down 2 cents at $5.39, falling to a low of $5.35. December corn closed 1-1/2 cents higher at $2.06-3/4. Funds were even to light net sellers. Commercials were also light sellers.
Citicorp and Rand Financial were featured, each selling 500-600 November, traders said. Traders continued to roll their November positions before first notice day on Friday. Open interest in November fell nearly 7,000 contracts to 62,386 on Monday.
A huge US soya harvest looms over the market despite farmers' tight hold on supplies. The government reported late on Monday that 80 percent of the US soya harvest was complete compared with 71 percent last week.
That was within trade expectations for harvest to be 80 percent to 84 percent complete. Exports were quiet overnight. But CIF soya values at the US Gulf firmed amid strong exporter demand to cover nearby shipments, CIF dealers said.
Country sales remain light as farmers are more willing to sell corn and capture loan deficiency payments of around 30 cents per bushel, while there were no LDPs posted for soyabeans.
"You've also have barge freight that's 25 percent higher today," said one CBOT floor trader.
Midwest cash basis bids on Tuesday held firm due to a lack of farmer sales. Scattered rains were also slowing harvest in the eastern belt and limiting movement, dealers said.
The CBOT announced on Monday that it lowered margin requirements for soyabean and soyameal futures effective Tuesday. The initial margin to trade soya futures fell to $1,823 per contract from $1,958. Soyameal futures margins were lowered to $1,080 from $1,215 per contract.
Nearby soyameal futures closed 40 cents to $1.80 per ton lower on spillover weakness from soyabeans. December closed $1.80 lower at $156.60. The futures market remains underpinned by firm US cash soyameal markets as processors have difficulty souring beans to crush.
The soyaoil market also settled lower, with the nearby down 0.03 cent to 0.08 cent per lb. on a profit-taking sag after the fund-led rally on Monday. December was down 0.07 at 21.79 cents.
There was supportive floor talk on Monday that US crushers were interested in souring CBOT soyaoil receipts, traders said. But CBOT soyaoil registrations were unchanged as of Monday night.
Malaysian palm oil futures closed mostly weak. Volume was moderate across the complex. In soyabeans, an estimated 78,419 futures and 14,798 options traded. Soyameal trade was seen at 24,642 futures and 1,421 options. Estimated soyaoil volume was 21,775 futures and 5,060 options.