CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures tumbled Monday on improving crop weather in South America and profit-taking, but still posted a gain for the month, analysts said. Beneficial weekend rains fell in parts of Argentina and southern Brazil, easing worries about drought, and forecasts called for showers to move into core soya areas of central and northern Brazil this coming weekend and next week.

CBOT January soyabean futures settled down 23-1/4 cents at $11.68-1/2 per bushel. The contract turned lower after failing for a fourth straight session to match its Nov. 23 high of $12. For the month of November, the January contract rose $1.12-1/4 per bushel or 10.6%, its sixth straight monthly advance, buoyed by worries about tightening global soya supplies.

CBOT January soyameal ended down $5.80 on Monday at $390.50 per short ton and January soyaoil fell 0.94 cent to settle at 37.49 cents per pound. The CBOT reported no deliveries against December soyameal or soyaoil futures on first notice day, a factor that supported the front contracts relative to back months.

The US Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of US soyabeans in the latest week at 2,036,484 tonnes, in line with trade expectations for 1,800,000 to 2,200,000 tonnes.