US soyabean futures rose on Wednesday, buoyed by strength in commodities and resurgent soya export demand, traders said. Wheat and corn followed the firm trend, with both grains rebounding after a two-session slide as the US corn harvest reached the Midwest. As of 1:05 pm CDT (1805 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade November soyabeans were up 4-1/4 cents at $9.69-3/4 per bushel. December corn was up 1-1/2 cents at $3.49-3/4 a bushel and December wheat was up 5-1/2 cents at $4.48-1/2 a bushel.
Soyabeans hit a session high after the US Department of Agriculture said private exporters sold 1.2 million tonnes of US soyabeans, including 1.08 million tonnes to unknown destinations. The USDA said the soyabean sale was among the top 10 largest ever announced through its daily reporting system, which dates to 1977. Analysts suspected that at least a portion of the sales to unknown destinations were earmarked for China, which is by far the world's largest soya importer.
US soyabean export commitments so far in the 2017-18 marketing year that began September 1 are lagging the year-ago pace, and the USDA has forecast record-large US soyabean imports for the year. CBOT grains and soya drew light support from strength in other commodities, including US crude oil futures, which were up about $1 a barrel, or 2 percent. The 19-market Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity Index was up 1.2 percent after reaching its highest level since May.
Wheat rose about 1 percent on technical buying and short-covering, but the bellwether December contract struggled to push much above $4.50 a bushel, an area of stiff chart resistance over the past week. Corn rose, but the CBOT December contract stayed inside of Tuesday's trading range. Traders were eyeing support at the contract low of $3.44-1/4 a bushel set on August 31, as they awaited yield reports from the US corn harvest expanding in the heart of the Midwest.