US soyabean futures plunged on Thursday, with the July contract down 2 percent after a day-long sell-off as a broad group of commodities likewise unravelled as the US dollar firmed, traders said. Soyabean futures have closed lower in seven of the last eight sessions.
In addition to pressure from outside markets, soy faced competitive supply. "South American offerings are much cheaper than those from the United States, and initial reports are the soybeans are higher in quality," said Karl Setzer, an analyst and commodity trading advisor at MaxYield Co-operative in West Bend, Iowa. USDA said export sales of US soyabeans last week totalled 21,200 tonnes, below estimates for 150,000 to 250,000 tonnes.
Rainfall in the US Midwest continues to slow corn plantings, but the heaviest rains appear to be shifting northward over the next 3 to 5 days, taking the pressure off the flooded areas of the eastern and southern crop region. Forecasts for next week indicate further delays in planting the US corn crop which could cause a shift to soybean acreage this year away from corn.