Soyabeans slip

Chicago Board of Trade soyabean and soyaoil futures closed lower on Wednesday, tracking the moves in the Malaysian palm oil market overnight, traders said. "The weakness in palm oil, which affected the soyabean oil and concerns about China possibly raising interest rates, got the market nervous and caused the sell-off," said oilseed analyst Anne Frisk, with Prudential Securities.
The Chicago soya markets have been tracking the volatile moves in the Asian vegetable oils, with both rising to multiyear highs this month amid rising demand for edible oils for food and fuel.
So, when the Malaysian palm oil market closed more than 3 percent lower overnight after the exchange regulator raised margin rates nearly 50 percent due to recent price volatility, it shook some speculators out of the palm market and the Chicago soyaoil and soyabean markets followed.
July soyabeans ended 3/4 cent lower at $8.25-3/4 per bushel but significantly off its low of $8.15 below its 10-dayy moving average of $8.20-3/4. The rallies in wheat and corn amid worries about dryness in the eastern Corn Belt stressing young corn plants and wheat harvest delays in the southern Plains due to rain helped soyabeans rebound.
"Soyabeans were completely a follower. They wanted to go down on the weakness in the palm oil and technically the charts are a little heavy but they were held up by the other markets today," said Dan Cekander, analyst for Fimat USA.
CBOT soyabean oil ended 0.28 to 0.40 cent weaker, with July off 0.40 cent at 34.87 cents. The strongest of the complex was soyameal as the meal/oil spread adjusted after the recent strength in oil versus meal, traders said.
July soyameal settled 80 cents higher at $230 per ton, with the deferred up $1 to $2. Volume was large. In soyabeans, an estimated 149,658 futures and 38,670 options traded.
Soyaoil volume was pegged at 70,464 futures and 4,566 options. Estimated soyameal trade was 42,005 futures and 1,273 options. Commodity funds sold 1,000 soyabean contracts, 2,000-2,500 soyaoil and bought 1,000-1,500 meal. US Midwest basis bids for soyabeans were weak on Wednesday, with nearby supplies ample after recent farmer sales and weak demand, traders said.
The National Oilseed Processors Association will issue its May crush data on Thursday. Analysts' estimates ranged from 142.5 million to 146.0 million bushels, up from Napa's April crush of 138.7 million. Soyaoil stocks estimates were mixed, ranging from down 30 million lbs. to up 38 million compared to last month's stocks tally of 2.902 billion lbs.