CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures ended higher on Thursday, rallying on bargain buying after a two-week low set a day earlier, as well as uncertainty about South American crop prospects and spillover strength from soyaoil futures, traders said. CBOT January soyabean futures settled up 15-1/4 cents at $11.68-1/4 per bushel.

CBOT January soyaoil ended up 0.81 cent at 37.73 cents per pound and January soyameal rose $4.40 to settle at $390 per short ton. CBOT soyaoil rose about 2% on news of Indonesia hiking its crude palm oil levy, a move that could boost demand for Malaysian palm oil. Also, Statistics Canada reported that Canadian farmers produced the smallest canola crop in five years, at 18.7 million tonnes, down 4.5% from last year and below trade expectations. Soyaoil competes in the global vegetable oil market with palm and canola oil.