Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were range-bound and slightly weaker by Thursday's mid-session as the market stabilised after its recent slide, traders said.
May soyabeans were down 1/4 cent at $7.53-1/4 per bushel by 11:35 am CDT (1635 GMT), with the deferred months 1-1/2 cent lower to up 1-1/4 cent. The products were also trading within recent ranges with soyaoil gaining on soyameal despite impressive meal export sales from last week.
May soyameal was down 20 cents per ton at $218.10, with the deferreds through January 2008 down 20 to 40 cents. J.P. Morgan was noted selling 400 May soyameal, traders said. The soyaoil market was 0.05 to 0.13 cent higher, with May up 0.13 at 30.58 cents.
Crude oil prices turned weak, which weighed on CBoT markets as commodities tend to move together given the increased amount of speculative capital invested in commodities. Fresh US export business was supportive. USDA confirmed early Thursday that China and Mexico each bought 120,000 tonnes of US soyabeans for 2006/07 delivery.
Weekly export data came in within expectations. USDA reported on Thursday that 452,600 tonnes of soya (451,900 tonnes of old-crop) were sold for export last week, compared with estimates for 300,000 to 500,000 tonnes.
Weekly export numbers were supportive for soyameal and neutral for soyaoil. The government reported that 299,100 tonnes of US soyameal were sold for export last week, with 277,000 tonnes for 2006/07 - a marketing year high. The weekly tally was above estimates for 50,000 to 75,000 tonnes. USDA said 2,200 tonnes of old-crop soyaoil were sold for export last week, within estimates for zero to 5,000 tonnes.