Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade fell hard early Friday on a profit-taking setback ahead of the long US holiday weekend, traders said.
The move was ignited by sharply lower CIF soya values at the US Gulf, after firming most of this week. January soyabeans led the market lower as commercials exited their long positions before expiration at 12:01 pm CST (1801 GMT).
CBOT soyabeans posted double-digit declines in all the nearby months, with January down 17-1/2 cents at $5.40 per bushel but still trading at a hefty premium of 16 cents to March. The March contract was 12-1/2 cents lower at $5.24 by 10:50 am CST (1650 GMT).
Funds and commercials were sellers, traders said. Among the players were UBS Warburg selling 1,000 March and Refco selling 300 March, traders said.
Despite the drop in CIF soya values at the Gulf on Friday, exporters were still finding it difficult to find enough beans to fill ships. Slowed farmer sales and logistical nightmares in getting US soyabeans to the Gulf kept supplies tight. High water levels on Midwest rivers, the arteries used to transport commodities to the US Gulf export market, were slowing barge traffic.
Soyameal futures fell sharply after sell-stops were triggered early in the session. January meal was under the least amount of pressure before midday expiration - down $2.20 at $165.50 per ton. March was $5.30 lower at $156.30.
NOPA's monthly crush data for meal was also bearish, traders said.
Soyaoil futures were also weaker following soyabeans, but January was unchanged at 19.96 cents per lb before expiration. March soyaoil was 0.33 cent lower at 19.75 cents.
Overnight, Malaysian palm oil futures closed mostly firm.
In the delivery market, there were 36 contracts posted against January meal on Friday amid strong commercial stopping. The Cargill Investor Services house account took them all.
There were eight soyaoil lots posted against the January contract. The house account of ADM Investor Services took all of the soyaoil.
CBOT agricultural markets will be closed on Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, reopening with the evening electronic session.