Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures closed lower on Thursday on disappointing weekly US export sales and rising estimates of South American soya harvests, traders said. CBOT May soyabeans settled down 6-3/4 cents at $8.95-1/4 a bushel. CBOT May soyameal ended down $2.90 at $307.20 per short ton and May soyaoil fell 0.09 cent at 28.98 cents per pound.
The US Department of Agriculture reported export sales of US soyabeans in the week to April 4 at 280,400 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), below a range of trade expectations. Brazil's government supply agency, Conab, raised its estimate of the country's 2018/19 soyabean harvest to 113.8 million tonnes, from 113.5 million last month.
Argentina's Rosario grains exchange on Wednesday raised its forecast of the country's soya crop to 56 million tonnes, up 2 million from its previous figure.