Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures firmed on Tuesday after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) projected a smaller-than-expected increase in US planted acres this spring, traders said. CBOT May soyabeans settled up 3-3/4 cents at $8.86 per bushel, while new-crop November rose 3 cents to $8.77-1/2 a bushel.
CBOT May soyameal ended down $4.00 at $321.50 per short ton while May soyaoil rose 0.14 cent to 27.01 cents per pound. The USDA forecast soyabean plantings of 83.510 million acres, below the average analyst forecast for 84.865 million acres.
The USDA also estimated soyabean stocks as of March 1 at 2.253 billion bushels, close to market expectations for 2.241 billion bushels. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expect the USDA to report 176.9 million bushels of soyabeans were processed in February. The monthly USDA crushings report is due for release on Wednesday.