US MIDDAY: soybeans firm

07 Sep, 2006

Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were higher Wednesday morning on spillover technical buying amid oversold conditions, traders said. September soya was up 2-3/4 cents at $5.44 per bushel and November was up 2-1/4 at $5.56-1/2 by 10:15 am CDT (1515 GMT).
Strength in soyameal for the second straight day added support to soyabeans. CBOT September soyameal was up $1.50 at $161.80 per ton, with the deferreds up 70 cents to $1.40. Soyoil remained the weakest of the complex with September down 0.09 cent at 24.45 cents per lb. The deferreds were 0.12 lower to up 0.11. Speculative buying in soyabeans gave the market early support, traders said.
Traders said analytical firm Informa Economics issued its latest crop forecast on Wednesday, pegging the US soya crop at 3.108 billion bushels, reflecting an average yield of 42.0 bushels per acre. That was bigger than USDA's August estimate for 2.928 billion and an average yield of 39.6 bpa.
But the larger estimate has been factored into the price, traders said. USDA late on Tuesday said 59 percent of the US soya crop was in good to excellent condition, unchanged from a week ago. There was another round of large September deliveries - 2,224 - underscoring that there are ample supplies and the big discount between cash and futures prices. The deliveries were met by scattered stoppers.
Spot basis bids for soyabeans in the Midwest were firm early Wednesday as processors tried to stir fresh sales. With the country price near the loan rate, farmers are not encouraged to sell the remainder of their old-crop supplies, dealers said.
Commodity funds hold a large net short position in soyameal, making it vulnerable to short-covering bounces and triggering meal/oil spreading, traders said. That occurred on Tuesday with open interest falling nearly 5,400 contracts in meal. In soyaoil, open interest fell roughly 1,400 lots. CBOT soyaoil remained pressured by big US soyaoil stocks and another round of large September deliveries of 616. They were met by scattered stopping There were no soyameal deliveries on Wednesday.

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