CHICAGO: US soyabean futures climbed on Thursday as adverse weather across South America fueled concerns about a short-term supply crunch.

Traders focused on Argentina, a major exporter of soyameal and corn, as hot and dry conditions are expected to continue over the next week. The dryness will stress second-crop soyabean growth, according to weather firm Maxar.

The unfavorable weather reinforced supply concerns as record US soyabean crushings and exports are projected to shrink American stocks of the oilseed to a mere 9-1/2 day supply ahead of the next North American harvest.

The US Department of Agriculture will update its estimates on global supplies and demand in a monthly report due on Tuesday.

“With the market looking for a possible hot and dry weather stress in Argentina or for the USDA to further tighten US old-crop ending stocks, the trade needs a bullish punch to up prices,” said Jerry Gidel, analyst for Midland Research.

Most actively traded soyabean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 12-1/2 cents $14.20 a bushel by 12:20 p.m. Central (1820 GMT) and earlier touched a session high of $14.38. The most-active contract last week reached $14.45-3/4 a bushel, the highest price since June 2014.

The USDA in a weekly report said US soyabean export sales totalled 533,400 tonnes for the week ended on Feb. 25, within analysts’ estimates for 100,000 to 800,000 tonnes.

Weekly US corn export sales totalled 154,700 tonnes, well below the low end of analysts’ estimates for 450,000 to 1.05 million tonnes.

Most-active CBOT corn futures were up 1-1/2 cents at $5.36-3/4 a bushel, while wheat was down 2-1/4 cents at $6.53-3/4 a bushel.