Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were choppy and range-bound early Wednesday, with March underpinned by a strong cash market as processors and exporters try to source beans, traders said. March soyabeans were steady at $5.26 per bushel by 10:05 am CST (1605 GMT) - trading at roughly a 3-cent premium to May. The May was down 1/2 cent at $5.23-1/2.
The strength in the March/May spread coincided with the strong cash markets at the US Gulf Coast.
So far, farmers remain reluctant sellers. Recent travel delays in moving grain by barge to Gulf export markets also keeps the pipeline tight.
But, after this week's price climb and long-term outlooks for a huge South American crop and a large world oilseed stockpile, the market was finding resistance. The March contract reached $5.29-1/2 early Wednesday, then backed off.
The soyameal market was mixed after a firm open, underpinned by a strong US cash soyameal market, traders said. But profit-taking surfaced after its recent strength.
March soyameal was 10 cents weaker at $157.80 per ton, meeting resistance at $159.50. The front month has climbed $7.50 since last week's low. The deferreds were down 10 cents to up 20 cents.
The soyaoil market continued its weak trend stemming from large vegetable oil stocks world-wide. March was down 0.05 cent at 19.66 cents per lb. The back months were 0.04 to 0.06 cent lower.
The US Census will release its December 2004 data on Thursday. Traders expect the crush to be 151 million bushels.