CBOT soybeans close firm, supported by exports

CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade soymeal futures closed firm on Friday due to strong export demand.

Gains were limited by abundant supplies following a bumper US harvest and easing concerns about weather limiting production in Argentina.

Soyoil futures ended slightly higher while soymeal dropped after failing to hold support above key technical benchmarks.

The US Agriculture Department reported the sale of 257,000 tonnes of soybeans to China and 126,000 tonnes of soybeans to unknown destinations.

Private analytics firm raised its forecast for 2018 US soybean plantings to a record 91.387 million acres. It also boosted its estimate of the 2017 soybean yield to 49.7 bushels per acre, above the government's latest estimate.

For the week, the most-active soybean futures contract fell 2.2 percent.

Soymeal futures dropped 3.3 percent this week, breaking a string of six straight weekly gains. Soyoil futures were down 1.2 percent this week, their fifth straight weekly decline.