Soya climbs

US soyabean futures rose to their highest price in more than five months on Thursday on bullish export figures and a dollar weakened by optimism that a successful Greek bond swap might prevent a default by the highly indebted euro zone member. Soyabeans have risen 12 out of the past 14 trading sessions on projections for tightening soya supplies as China, the world's largest soyabean importer, continues to snap up stocks.
Wheat and corn turned weak after posting gains early in the session as traders exited at least a portion of their long positions before the release on Friday of a US government report on global crop production and ending stocks data. "The soyabean market was boosted by the surprisingly large number for soyabeans in USDA's export sales report," said Rich Nelson, director of research for Illinois-based advisory firm Allendale Inc.
The euro rose and the dollar fell as optimism grew that Greece would complete a crucial bond swap by a deadline later on Thursday. Chicago Board of Trade May wheat fell 4-1/2 cents per bushel to settle at $6.34-3/4 per bushel, May corn went down 3-1/4 to $6.35-1/2 and May soyabeans rose 11-3/4 to $13.38-1/2.
USDA's weekly export report showed US exporters sold more than 1.6 million tonnes of US soyabeans to overseas customers last week, well above estimates for 400,000 to 700,000 tonnes. The export sales number for soyabeans was 85 percent more than the previous week and 56 percent above the four-week average. The sales data included nearly a half million tonnes to China, the world's largest importer of soyabeans.
Following the release of the weekly data, the USDA reported an additional sale of 165,000 tonnes of soyabeans to China. US soyabean export sales soared last week to the second highest point in more than a year, driven by strong Chinese demand for spring and summer shipments amid concerns about South American crop shortfalls and shipping delays, analysts said.
Exporters sold more than 1 million tonnes last week for shipment before the next US harvest, the largest old-crop sales this late in the marketing year in at least two decades, USDA data showed. Nearly half of that old-crop volume was sold to China, the world's top importer which has accelerated its soyabean purchases from the United States over the past month as concerns about South American production rose. "China wants to make sure they have adequate supplies booked and they are not sure of the South American crop," said Don Roose, analyst with US Commodities.