Chicago Board of Trade soyabeans rallied on Thursday after the US Department of Agriculture raised soyabean supply outlooks higher than market expectations, while also forecasting a higher soyameal crush to meet growing livestock feed needs.

USDA pegged soyabean ending stocks at 480 million bushels. Analysts had been expecting soyabean ending stocks of 430 million bushels, based on the average of estimates in a Reuters poll.

CBOT May soyabeans settled on Thursday up 9 cents at $8.63-1/2 per bushel. For new crop beans, CBOT November soyabeans closed up 7-3/4 cents at $8.75-3/4 per bushel.

CBOT May soyameal ended down 30 cents at $292.50 per short ton while May soyaoil rose 0.23 cent to 27.41 cents per pound.

US markets will be closed on Friday in observance of the Good Friday holiday.

The US Department of Agriculture on Thursday lowered its outlook for US soyabean exports by 50 million bushels.

The cut to soyabean exports was partially offset by increasing the amount of soyabeans used by crushers by 20 million bushels.

The rising crush figure reflected increased soyameal demand from livestock producers seeking to replace distillers dried grains, a corn-based feed that is a co-product of ethanol production, in their animals' diets.

The USDA reported export sales of US soyabeans in the week ended April 2 at 876,900 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), toward the low end of trade expectations for 700,000 to 1.4 million tonnes.

Brazilian soyabean exports may hit a second consecutive record monthly high in April on strong demand from top importer China, agribusiness consultancy Safras & Mercado said on Thursday, citing shipping data.

Brazil is poised to export an estimated 13.5 million tonnes based on soya vessel shipping schedules, according to the consultancy.

Colombia will suspend tariffs on imports of corn, soya and sorghum until the end of June to reduce agricultural production costs during the global crisis caused by the spread of coronavirus, the Ministry of Agriculture said Thursday.