US soyabean futures fell on Thursday, pressured by the ongoing harvest of a projected record-large crop in Brazil and profit-taking after a two-session climb attributed to fund buying, traders said. Corn futures and wheat futures were also lower. As of 12:21 p.m. CST (1821 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade May soyabean futures were down 15-3/4 cents at $10.36 per bushel. May corn was down 3-3/4 cents at $3.78-1/4 a bushel while May wheat was down 5-3/4 cents at $4.51-1/4 a bushel.
Soyabean futures sagged as expectations of Brazil's soyabean harvest continued to rise. Informa Economics raised its forecast of Brazil's crop to a record-high 108 million tonnes, trade sources said, up 2 million tonnes from its previous estimate. The figure is above the last monthly estimate from Brazil's government agency Conab, which put the crop at 105.6 million tonnes, and the US Department of Agriculture's figure of 104 million.
"The number one thing is good weather in South America along with no new bullish fundamentals," said Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics. Corn and soyaoil futures retreated after a two-day fund-driven rally, sparked in part by reports of potential changes to US biofuel policy. Corn is the primary US feedstock for ethanol and soyaoil is used in biodiesel. Wheat was pressured by strength in the dollar, which tends to make US grains less competitive on the global market.