US soyabean futures rose 1.1 percent, their third straight day of gains, on Friday as demand for US stocks of the oilseed remained strong while overseas buyers waited for supplies from the South American harvest to hit the market, traders said. Wheat futures jumped on a round of short covering but remained stuck in recent trading ranges. The strength in wheat and soyabeans spilled over to corn, which showed little independent strength.
For the week, soyabeans were on track for a 2.4 percent gain and wheat a 0.9 percent gain. Corn has firmed 0.6 percent so far this week. "Strong soya demand continues to hold up that complex this week despite the reality of a string of record harvests," Matt Zeller, director of market information at INTL FCStone, said in a note to clients. Chicago Board of Trade March soyabean futures were 12-3/4 cents higher at $9.96-1/2 a bushel at 10:44 a.m. CST (1644 GMT). The front-month contract hit its highest since February 3.
"Soyabean supplies are rising this year, but look at the projections for US soyabean exports. They (USDA) are talking about a record pace of shipments; that points to pretty strong demand," said Phin Ziebell, an agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank. US soyabean processors likely maintained a healthy crushing pace during January as they scrambled to keep up with surging domestic demand, analysts said.
Soyabean crushing was expected to come in at 162.673 million bushels in the National Oilseed Processors Association's monthly report set for release on Tuesday, according to the average estimate from nine analysts in a Reuters poll. CBOT March corn was 5 cents higher at $3.88 a bushel while CBOT March wheat surged 11 cents to $5.32-1/4 a bushel.