20000219CBOT soyabeans end firm on exports, China business

CHICAGO: Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade finished mostly firmer Thursday, buoyed by stronger export readings and Chinese demand.

Soyabeans settled unchanged to 1-1/2 cent per bushel higher, with March, the most actively traded contract, up 1/2 at $5.08.

Commodity fund selling pressured the market for part of the session, but prices held up with assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest weekly export sales report, released early Thursday.

The report reflected a pickup in overall foreign demand, as well as recent Chinese buying interest, traders said. The USDA listed net U.S. soyabean sales for the week ended Feb. 10 at 639,900 tonnes, 33 percent below the previous week but 22 percent above the four-week average. Expectations ranged from 400,000 to 700,000 tonnes.

China, at 139,600 tonnes, was among the largest soyabean buyers for the latest week noted by the USDA. On Wednesday, the USDA said private exporters reported the sale of 110,000 tonnes of U.S. soyabeans to China for delivery in 1999/2000.

Traders in Asia said earlier Thursday that China bought more than 500,000 tonnes of U.S. soyabeans in the past 10 days and could buy another 200,000 tonnes soon to supply its domestic crushing industry.

"The talk is they (China) bought 12 cargoes at the Gulf (of Mexico), and it might end up being 16 when all is said and done," said Charlie Sernatinger, vice president, Chicago grain sales, for E.D. & F. Man International. One cargo is roughly 50,000 tonnes of soyabeans.

Funds sold about 1,500 soyabean contracts up to late trading but were buying back late, traders said. Pressure earlier in the session was also attributed to expectations for needed moisture in the U.S. Midwest this week.

Forecasts called for 4 to 10 inches of snow from late Thursday through Saturday around the Midwest. The snow will help alleviate but will not eliminate concern about continued dry weather patterns in the Midwest, meteorologists said.

Near the close, Rand Financial Services and TENCO Commercial Grain each bought 300 March contracts near the close, traders said. Up to late trading, FIMAT Futures Inc. sold 1,100 March and 200 May, Merrill Lynch sold 400 March, Cargill Inc. bought 600 May and O'Connor & Co. and Salomon Smith Barney Inc. each bought 500 March, floor sources said.

Soyabean futures volume during Thursday's pit session was estimated by the CBOT at 38,000 contracts, compared with 42,186 Wednesday.-Reuters