US soyabean futures surged more than 1 percent, on track for their sixth consecutive session of gains on Thursday after big export sales results triggered investment fund buying. Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures extended their strongest rally since August and traded at the highest levels since September, while corn and wheat futures each edged lower.
CBOT March soyabeans jumped 22-3/4 cents to $14.30 per bushel, while May beans rose 25-1/2 cents to $14.22-1/2. Soya futures bounded to their session highs after the US Department of Agriculture pegged export sales of soyabeans last week at 642,900 tonnes, combined old- and new-crop. The sales were near the high end of analyst expectations.
USDA then said China purchased 112,000 tonnes of soyabeans overnight that could be shipped from the United States or another origin. The so-called flash sale of soyabeans was the second this week after an unknown buyer purchased 568,000 tonnes of beans on Tuesday. The export sales came amid rain delays to the harvest and congestion at ports in Brazil, a country that typically starts to dominate global soya export trade at this time of year.
CBOT March wheat was down 1-3/4 cents to $5.98-1/4 per bushel, the lowest level in two weeks and the third straight session of declines. CBOT March corn was down 1/2 cent at $4.55 per bushel as of 11:08 am CST (1708 GMT). Top global wheat buyer Egypt purchased 295,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia and Romania. The United States was expected to miss the export business, and the confirmation of that fact weighed on prices. Egypt earlier this week cancelled shipments of 110,000 tonnes of US soft red winter wheat, sparking a selloff in a market that had been trading at about a two-month high.