Soyabean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell sharply on Friday on better crop weather in the US Midwest, traders said. Follow-through speculative selling after on Thursday's sharp break also contributed to the declines, they said. CBOT soya closed 13 to 21-1/2 cents per bushel lower, with July down 21-1/2 at $7.97.
New-crop November was down 21 at $8.30-3/4. "It's raining in the dry areas and we'll have to get used to this volatility. What used to be a 5 to 10 cent move is now 15 to 20 cents and it isn't easy," said Dan Cekander, analyst for FIMAT USA.
Showers on Thursday and Friday produced much-needed rain in parts of the eastern US Corn Belt, bringing a measure of relief to developing corn and soyabean crops, a private forecaster said on Friday.
Central and northern Illinois received 0.3 to 1.5 inches of rain with 70 to 80 percent coverage. But lesser amounts fell in Indiana, and Ohio was mostly dry. More rain was expected in the region in the second half of next week, but again, the rains could fade toward the east.
"There was certainly some very beneficial rain in some of the driest areas of Illinois, and more coming, so we're going to continue to improve the soil moisture conditions," DTN Meteorlogix forecaster Mike Palmerino said. "The issue will be that the improvement will diminish as you go eastward. We will continue to see significant dryness in eastern areas of Indiana, and that would extend on into Ohio," he said.
Cash basis bids for soyabeans in the Midwest were lower on a lack of new demand from exporters at the US Gulf. Bids were steady at interior locations and farmer selling was light. Soyameal was down $5.00 to $9.10 per ton, following soyabeans, with July down $8.80 at $217.40 per ton. Soyaoil also was pressured by the decline in soya and by a weak close overnight in the Malaysian palm oil futures market. Soyaoil was down 0.31 to 0.40 cent per lb., with July down 0.31 at 34.73 cents per lb.