CHICAGO: US soybean futures rose on Tuesday for a fourth straight session, setting a 3-1/2-week top on demand from exporters and crushers, along with technical buying, analysts said.
Corn futures were higher while wheat was lower.
At the Chicago Board of Trade as of 12:24 p.m. CDT (1724 GMT), November soybeans were up 2-3/4 cents at $9.81 per bushel. December corn was up 1-3/4 cents at $3.55-3/4 a bushel and December wheat was down 1 cent at $4.22-3/4 a bushel.
Soybeans advanced after a choppy start, climbing after the US Department of Agriculture said private exporters sold 706,500 tonnes of US soybeans to China.
The sales announcement followed a visit to Iowa last week by a delegation of Chinese soy buyers who signed purchase agreements to buy 5.1 million tonnes of US soybeans.
Soybeans also drew support from a larger-than-expected monthly soy crush figure released Monday by the National Oilseed Processors Association, said Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics.
NOPA said its members crushed 129.4 million bushels of soybeans in September, above an average of trade expectations and up 2.1 percent from a year earlier.
The figure signaled strong demand for soymeal, a feed ingredient, despite competition from distillers' dried grains (DDGs), a byproduct of corn-based ethanol production.
China last month imposed anti-dumping duties on DDGs, a move that some feared would push the ingredient back into US feed channels and stifle demand for soymeal. But NOPA's crush figure indicated otherwise.
"You've got meal as the leader, and I think it really does have to do with the NOPA number," Zuzolo said.
Others said soymeal firmed as traders unwound long soyoil/short soymeal spread positions following a profit-taking setback in soyoil and allied Malaysian palm oil futures.
Corn rose on technical buying and concerns the US harvest was running more slowly than normal. The USDA said the US corn harvest was 46 percent complete by Sunday, behind the five-year average of 49 percent and lagging trade expectations.
"Corn bounced a little bit, probably due to some rain moving into the eastern Corn Belt this week that might slow harvest activity," said Terry Reilly, analyst with Futures International.
Wheat was mixed to lower, with the December contract easing after a three-session climb that analysts attributed to funds covering short positions.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.