CBOT soy settles higher as dollar sags, ends week up 2.7pc

23 Nov, 2012

 

* CBOT December options expired at the close.

 

* Optimism about a deal to help Greece, hopes that US lawmakers can agree on a solution to avoid a fiscal crisis, and data showing an improving global economic outlook have pressured the dollar and driven a rally in riskier asset markets, including commodities, this week.

 

* For the week, CBOT soybeans settled up 2.7 percent, rebounding after three straight weekly losses that drove the market to a five-month low.

 

* China's manufacturing sector saw expansion accelerate in November for the first time in 13 months, preliminary data showed Thursday, a sign that the pace of economic growth in the world's biggest soy buyer has revived after seven consecutive quarters of slowdown.

 

* On a bearish note, China's soybean imports will grow at their slowest pace in six years this marketing year as sluggish demand and poor crushing margins dent Chinese purchases, a Reuters poll showed.

 

* Spot basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to the US Gulf Coast mostly held steady early Friday amid a lack of selling by farmers, traders said.

 

* Traders continue to watch the Mississippi River amid concerns that low water levels could slow shipping. The US Coast Guard has said it did not expect a river closure between St. Louis and Cairo, Illinois, but that restrictions on drafts and tow sizes were likely at some point.

 

* USDA reported export sales of US soybeans in the latest week at 543,600 tonnes, within a range of trade estimates for 400,000 to 650,000 tonnes.

 

* USDA pegged weekly US soymeal sales at 197,800 tonnes, slightly below a range of trade estimates for 200,000 to 300,000 tonnes.

 

* USDA reported weekly US soyoil sales at 124,000 tonnes, well above a range of trade estimates for 50,000 to 70,000 tonnes.

 

* USDA through its daily reporting system on Friday confirmed sales of 20,000 tonnes of US soyoil to unknown destinations for 2012/13 delivery.

 

* Argentine soy-crushing workers ended a brief strike in three of four soy-processing plants in the Rosario port area on Friday while negotiations with export company Bunge continued, a union official said.

 

* Brazilian grain industry association Abiove raised its estimate for the already harvested 2011/12 soybean crop to 67.7 million tonnes, from 66.8 million previously, which it said will mean an additional 800,000 tonnes of soybeans for export.

 

Copyright Reuters, 2012

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