CHICAGO: US soyabean futures rose 1.5% on Thursday, underpinned by the strong demand highlighted in the US Agriculture Department's monthly supply and demand report on Tuesday, traders said. Corn and wheat futures also were firm, recovering from overnight weakness with the market focused on tight supplies.

Corn received a further boost after the US Environmental Protection Agency said it would not rule on the key issue of exempting some oil refineries from biofuel blending laws.

All three commodities remained below the multi-year highs hit earlier this week. The gains in soyabeans were spurred by stronger-than-expected weekly export sales and analysts' expectations that a trade group report on Friday would show a massive pace of crushing in the United States.

At 10:57 a.m. CST (1657 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade March soyabean futures were up 21-1/4 cents at $14.27-1/2 a bushel. USDA said weekly soyabean export sales totalled 1.234 million tonnes, topping market forecasts that ranged from 400,000 to 1.2 million tonnes.

The US soyabean crush likely rose in December to the second-highest level on record for any month, capping the busiest year of processing ever for the industry, according to analysts polled ahead of a National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) report due on Friday. China's soyabean imports hit a record high in 2020, customs data showed. CBOT March corn futures gained 8 cents to $5.32-1/2 a bushel. CBOT March wheat futures were 12-1/4 cents higher at $6.72-3/4 a bushel.