Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures rallied to their highest since January 2017 on Thursday due to strong export data and falling expectations for the size of the harvest in Argentina, traders said. Prices closed near session highs. The US Agriculture Department on Thursday morning reported weekly soyabean export sales of 979,900 tonnes, which topped forecasts for 400,000 tonnes to 800,000 tonnes.
USDA also said that private exporters reported sales totalling 246,000 tonnes, including 120,000 tonnes for delivery to China during the current marketing year. The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange lowered its estimate of Argentine soyabean production for the 2017/18 marketing year to 44 million tonnes from 47 million tonnes.