US MIDDAY: Soyabeans higher

US soyabean futures rose on Wednesday on a slower-than-expected harvest pace and news of fresh export demand, although plentiful global supplies kept a lid on the market, analysts said Wheat futures fell on sluggish export demand while corn futures were nearly unchanged.
As of 11:48 a.m. CST (1748 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade January soyabean futures were up 3-3/4 cents at $8.82 per bushel. CBOT December wheat was down 5-1/2 cents at $5.02-1/4 a bushel and December corn was flat at $3.66-1/2 a bushel.
Soyabeans firmed as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said private exporters sold 148,000 tonnes of US soyabeans to unknown destinations, the second sale in as many days.
Late Tuesday, the USDA said the US soyabean harvest was 88 percent complete, behind the average trade estimate of 91 percent and the five-year average of 93 percent.
Additional support stemmed from firming cash values in the Midwest interior as harvest winds down and farmers put crops into storage. Some are hoping for a rally if US trade talks with top global soyabean buyer China go well later this month.
President Donald Trump is due to meet with China President Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the end of November on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit.
CBOT corn futures found underlying support from a slow US harvest pace and a USDA announcement that exporters sold 212,000 tonnes of the grain to Mexico.
But spillover pressure from a slide in CBOT wheat futures capped the strength in corn.
Wheat futures fell after a surprise improvement in the USDA's winter wheat condition ratings. The USDA late Tuesday rated 54 percent of the crop in good to excellent condition, up from 51 percent the previous week. Analysts on average had expected no change.
The winter wheat crop was 89 percent planted, lagging the five-year average of 94 percent. Analysts questioned whether much of the last 10 percent would be seeded, given the late date and wintry US weather this week.
But traders are fixated on slow US wheat exports, Hoops said, noting the K.C. December hard red winter wheat futures contract dipped to $4.82 a bushel, its lowest since December 2017.