Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures fell on Friday in range bound trade as welcome rains reached parts of Argentina's crop region, traders said. Showers in Argentina's central Pampas farm belt provided relief to parched soya and corn crops after weeks of drought prompted reductions in harvest estimates, said a climate expert at the Buenos Aires grains exchange.
Worries about a return to dry conditions in the coming days underpinned CBOT soyabean and soyameal values. Argentina is the world's biggest soyameal exporter. CBOT March soyabeans settled down 4-3/4 cents at $9.83 per bushel. However, for the week, the contract rose 4-1/4 cents or 0.4 percent. CBOT March soyameal closed up $2.10 at $343.80 per short ton on Friday while March soyaoil fell 0.25 cent at 31.96 cents per pound.
Recent strength in soyameal futures has pressed the spot CBOT oilshare, measuring soyaoil's share of value in soya products, below 32 percent, to its lowest since August 2016. Trader were still digesting Friday's monthly USDA report in which the government raised its forecast of US 2017/18 soyabean ending stocks.