Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on Thursday amid fund buying and following a rally to new contract highs in soyaoil, while crude oil markets surged, traders said. Soyabean futures also held strong amid gains in corn as the soyabean market continues its attempt to lure 2007 acreage away from corn.
CBOT soya closed unchanged to 8-1/2 cents per bushel higher, with May up 7-1/2 at $7.78-1/4 per bushel. New-crop November was up 6-3/4 at $8.20 per bushel. Trading was volatile ahead of the release at 8:30 am EDT (1230 GMT) on Friday of USA's March plantings report, traders said.
Analysts pegged 2007 US soya seedlings at 69 million, below last year's 75.5 million. Export news offered little direction to soya futures. USDA said 272,100 tonnes of soya were sold for export last week, below estimates for 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes. Crop weather was not viewed as a problem for soya production in South America or in the United States.
Wet weather in the Midwest was recharging soil moisture reserves and there is some concern about outlooks for cooler and damp weather next week that may slow spring seedlings of corn, which could lead to increased soya plantings. Good crop weather continues in South America with some concern about flooding in portions of Argentina.
Technical traders saw the May contract close above all key moving averages on Thursday, and the nine-day relative strength index was at 64. Soyameal closed up 70 cents to down $1.20, and the May contract was up 30 at $218.60 per ton. USDA on Thursday said 105,400 tonnes of soyameal were sold for export last week, above estimates for 25,000 to 75,000 tonnes.
Soyaoil was up 0.52 to 0.65 cent, with May up 0.56 at 32.97 cents per lb. New contract highs were set as soyaoil followed the strong rally in crude oil markets. USDA on Thursday reported a minus 7,800 tonnes of soyaoil sold for export last week, below estimates for zero to 10,000 tonnes.