Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures fell more than 3 percent on Thursday as Brazil's currency plunged, raising expectations that Brazilian farmers would increase sales of their record-large soya crop, traders said. CBOT July soyabeans settled at $9.44-3/4 per bushel, down 31 cents or 3.2 percent, the biggest single-day drop for a most-active contract since August.
CBOT July soyameal closed down $7.80 at $307.50 per short ton and CBOT July soyaoil ended down 0.71 cent at 32.44 cents per lb. The Brazilian real sank 7 percent following corruption allegations against Brazilian President Michel Temer and news that Brazil's Supreme Court authorized an investigation.
Soyabeans are priced in US dollars, and because Brazilian farmers are paid in the domestic currency, a weaker real means farmers earn more money for their crop. The US Department of Agriculture reported export sales of US soyabeans in the latest week at 396,800 tonnes (old and new marketing years combined), in line with trade expectations for 200,000 to 600,000 tonnes. The USDA reported combined-year export sales of US soyameal in the latest week at 173,800 tonnes, and combined-year soyaoil sales at 15,500 tonnes.