CHICAGO: US soyabean futures traded flat on Thursday, paring gains after Chinese buying pushed the market to its highest prices in more than two years. The US Department of Agriculture confirmed private exporters sold 318,000 tonnes of US soyabeans to unknown destinations and another 132,000 tonnes to China, all for delivery in the 2020/21 marketing year that began on Sept. 1.

China is the world's top soyabean importer and has been seeking to combat jitters over food security. Traders on Wednesday told Reuters that Chinese state-owned firms bought at least 480,000 tonnes for shipment in December and January.

The USDA separately reported on Thursday that total export sales of US soyabeans in the week ended Aug. 27 were 1.851 million tonnes, near the high end of a range of analysts' estimates. Weekly US corn export sales of 2.485 million tonnes and wheat sales of 585,400 tonnes were also toward the high end of expectations.

Corn and wheat futures slumped as losses in equities and strength in the US dollar pressured agricultural markets, traders said. "All in all, it's just a risk-off type of day," said Karl Setzer, commodity risk analyst for AgriVisor.

The most-active soyabean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was unchanged at $9.62 a bushel by 11:05 a.m. CDT (1605 GMT). It earlier touched its highest level since June 2018 at $9.68-1/4, slightly above a previous two-year peak on Monday. CBOT corn was down 3-3/4 cents at $3.55 a bushel, and wheat was down 6 cents at $5.52-1/4.

Traders are waiting for the USDA to update its US corn and soya harvest forecasts in a monthly supply and demand report on Sept. 11, after dryness hurt Midwest crops and a windstorm flattened fields in Iowa last month. Wheat traders are also awaiting the outcome of an import tender by Egypt, which has been heavily buying Russian wheat in recent weeks.