US soyabean futures unofficially closed lower on Thursday, falling to their lowest level in more than a week as traders adjusted positions ahead of the US Agriculture Department's monthly supply and demand report. News of an earthquake in Japan also spooked the market, traders said.
Prices found resistance around the 50-day moving average after opening higher. An average of analysts' estimates for USDA's April supply/demand and world production reports set for release on Friday, placed US ending stocks of soyabeans on August 31 at 137 million bushels, below USDA's forecast in March for 140 million.
Earlier on Thursday, the USDA said US export sales of soya last week totalled a net 190,300 tonnes, well below estimates for 300,000 to 450,000 tonnes. Spot cash basis for corn and soyabeans were mostly steady in the US Midwest interior on Thursday and farmer sales of soya were slow, cash dealers said. New-crop CBOT November soya/December corn spread was trading at a ratio of about 2.12 at Thursday's close, in line with Wednesday.