US soyabean futures rose on Friday, briefly hitting the highest level in more than three weeks on support from the government's forecast for tightening supplies, traders said. Wheat futures also were firm, but corn was steady to weak, pressured by a projection for a record US harvest.
The US Agriculture Department at its annual Outlook Forum projected domestic soyabean ending stocks for the 2020/21 marketing year would fall to a four-year low.
USDA pegged the US corn crop at 15.5 billion bushels, which would cause ending stocks to balloon to 2.637 billion bushels. If realized, that would be the largest stockpile since 1988.
At 10:21 a.m. CST (1619 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade March soyabean futures were up 4-1/2 cents at $8.97-1/4 a bushel. The contract, which was on track for its third straight weekly gain, briefly topped $9 a bushel but retreated from the session peak after hitting technical resistance at its 30-day moving average.
Gains in soyabeans have been kept in check as purchases by top buyer China have remained tepid despite the Phase 1 trade deal. The latest weekly export data showed sales to China of just 11,484 tonnes, the lowest weekly total since early September.
CBOT March corn was off 1/4 cent at $3.78-1/4 a bushel after firming early on a bullish export report. The contract hit resistance at its 10-day moving average. USDA said weekly export sales of corn totaled 1.25 million tonnes, just above the high end of market forecasts that ranged from 700,000 tonnes to 1.2 million tonnes.
CBOT March wheat was up 1-3/4 cents at $5.61-3/4 a bushel. The wheat market was also supported by steady international demand and traders were watching for the results of a tender by Saudi Arabia expected to be announced on Monday.
The Taiwan Flour Millers' Association purchased 102,525 tonnes of milling wheat to be sourced from the United States, European traders said.