Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade soared on Thursday on a technical rebound after gapping higher on the open, traders said. Buying escalated when January soyabean contract shot through its 50-day moving average of $5.91-1/4 per bushel.
Firming US cash markets helped to underpin prices and the strength in the soyameal pit was supportive to soyabeans. There was little reaction to the weekly soyabean export sales, which came in as expected.
November soyabeans were up 11-1/2 cents at $5.85 per bushel and January was 10-3/4 higher at $5.95-3/4 by 10:50 am CST (1650 GMT).
Buying was scattered among commission houses with commodity funds buying about 2,500 contracts by mid-morning, traders said.
The US Agricultural Department said Thursday US soya export sales last week totalled 761,400 tonnes, within estimates for 600,000 to 900,000 tonnes. China was the top buyer, with 467,100 tonnes.
Reminders that US farmers could harvest their second largest soyabean crop in history remained bearish. Traders said Memphis-based analytical firm Informa Economics estimated 2005 US soya production at 3.053 billion bushels, above the USDA October forecast for 2.967 billion. USDA will release its next crop estimate on November 10.
There were some concerns about 0.50 to 2.0 inches of rainfall forecast for southern Brazil, which needs to dry out for field work, said Meteorlogix weather service. Scattered showers were forecast for Argentina, which was in need of rain.
The soya products were mixed with soyameal gaining on soyaoil as the spread between the two markets continued to correct.
December soyameal was up $4.10 per ton at $178, with deferreds up $2.80 to $4. December soyaoil was 0.02 cent per lb higher at 22.86 cents, with the back months up 0.03 to down 0.02 cent.
US weekly export sales data for soyameal was supportive, while soyaoil was neutral to bearish.
USDA reported 304,700 tonnes of US soyameal were sold for export last week, compared with estimates for 75,000 to 200,000 tonnes. In soyaoil, export sales totalled 4,700 tonnes, with estimates for 2,000 to 10,000 tonnes.