CHICAGO: Chicago soyabeans snapped a three-session losing streak on Thursday, but any hopes of a strong rally were doused as rains across South America eased supply worries.

Corn prices firmed, supported by fresh demand amid tightening global supplies, while wheat fell on a lack of fresh export news.

The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) most-active soyabean contract added 3-1/2 cents to $13.73 per bushel, as of 11:48 a.m. (1748 GMT), after gaining 18 cents in earlier trading.

Corn gained 2-1/2 cents to $5.24-1/4 per bushel, while wheat fell 6-3/4 cents to $6.61 per bushel.

Soyabean futures were bolstered by private sales of 136,000 tonnes of US soyabeans to China and 163,290 tonnes to Mexico, both for shipment in the 2020/21 season, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

“It’s positive to see world buyers jumping in at these levels and snatch up what they consider some bargain prices, after a big break,” said Chuck Shelby, president of Risk Management Commodities.

Soyabeans could be poised for further correction, according to Ted Seifried, vice president of Zaner Group.

“If we find more demand on a break, we are really going to have a zero soyabean situation later on in the marketing year, which is going to cause a major problem for our domestic end users,” he said.

Meanwhile corn also benefited from export sales, as the USDA reported private sales of 336,500 tonnes of US corn to unknown destinations for shipment in the 2020/21 season.

Global stocks continue to tighten as Argentine sales surged ahead of the upcoming 2020/21 corn harvest, on concerns of export limits.

Wheat continues to see support from an impending Russian export tax, though US exports have been lacking. “We haven’t seen that translate into a big amount of exports yet,” said Seifried. “Once we do, we can justify much higher export prices in wheat.”