CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures fell nearly 2% on Monday on a mix of technical selling after last week’s two-week high and improving prospects for South American production, traders said. CBOT January soybeans settled down 23-3/4 cents at $12.44 per bushel.

CBOT January soy meal futures ended down $4.70 at $362.10 per short ton and January soy oil fell 0.34 cent to settle at 53.35 cents per pound. Weekend rains in crop areas of Argentina were better than expected, meteorologists said, bolstering soy and corn prospects there.

In Brazil, soybean planting was 96% complete data from agribusiness consultancy AgRural showed. However, dry weather has slowed seeding and threatened prospects in southern Brazil. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported weekly soybean export inspections at 1.724 million tonnes, a three-week low that fell below a range of trade expectations for 1.9 million to 2.3 million tonnes.

Ahead of Wednesday’s monthly crush report from the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA), analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the trade group to report that its members crushed 181.6 million bushels of soybeans in November.

If realized, the figure would represent NOPA’s biggest-ever November crush, but it would be down from the 183.993 million bushels processed in October.