CHICAGO: Chicago soyabean futures climbed on Monday, supported by risks of hot and dry weather for South American crops as they near harvest.

Wheat fell, pressured by stronger US dollar and pulled corn lower. The most active soyabeans contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) added 11-1/2 cents to $13.50-3/4 a bushel by 11:26 a.m. CT (1726 GMT).

CBOT wheat was down 10-1/4 at $7.60-1/2 a bushel, and CBOT corn eased 4-1/4 cents to $5.89 a bushel.

South American weather forecasts returned to dry and hot after beneficial rains last week aided soyabean production in Brazil and Argentina. In Argentina, moisture deficits could expand to affect more than half of corn and soyabean crops by next week, the Commodity Weather Group said in a note, although the impact on yield remains uncertain. “Even with weather issues in South America, you’ve got a bigger crop than a year ago,” said Bill Lapp, an agriculture economist at Advanced Economic Solutions. Gains in soyabean futures were capped by the disappointing US weekly export inspections, with 1.19 million tonnes of the oilseed exported the week ended Dec. 30, down 32% from the previous four week average and below analyst estimates.

“Soybean inspections were the lowest since late September,” said Terry Reilly, a senior analyst at Futures International. “Some people were a little disappointed with that.”