February 28, 2006

 

CBOT Soy Review on Monday: Up on late speculative gains,trails wheat

 

 

CBOT soybean futures settled mostly firm Monday following a late speculative-led rally in neighboring CBOT wheat after trading mostly lower throughout the session on speculative sales, bird flu concerns and talk that recent rains aided Argentina's soy crop.

 

"Locals bought the market between US$5.84 and US$5.88 in the May (soybeans), and then (buy) stops were triggered between US$5.89 and US$5.93," one floor source said.

 

CBOT May soybeans ended up 2 3/4 cents at US$5.93 per bushel after hitting Monday a one-month low of US$5.81.

 

CBOT May soymeal ended up US$1.10 at US$178.40 per short tonne after hitting a near 3-month low of US$174.80 per tonne; and May soyoil closed unchanged at 23.37 cents per pound.

 

In Monday's soybean pit trades, funds were net sellers of about 1,500 lots, sources said.

 

Man Financial sold about 1,800 May, JP Morgan sold about 1,200 November and O'Connor and Co. sold 400 May, brokers said. Bunge Grain bought 500 May, they noted.

 

Spreading of nearby CBOT March soybean and soy product futures was noted ahead of Tuesday's first notice day for the CBOT March soy delivery cycle.

 

Traders expected up to 3,000 soybean deliveries to be posted Tuesday and up to 2,000 soyoil lots. Soymeal deliveries were expected to be small on Tuesday's first notice day.

 

There were 1,903 soybean contracts registered with the exchange for delivery purposes as of Friday afternoon. There were 5,379 soyoil registrations and 34 soymeal registrations, all unchanged from the previous day.

 

CBOT registrations are updated daily at 4 p.m. CST.

 

In soybean spread trade Monday, ADM Investor Services spread 700 July/March, JP Morgan spread 500 September/July and FC Stonnee spread 400 May/March.

 

In soybean options trade, UBS sold 1,000 May US$6.00 puts, Produce Grain sold 500 July US$5.60 puts and Refco Inc. sold 500 April US$5.70 puts, brokers said.

 

Weekly U.S. soybean export inspections of 20.016 million bushels lagged last week's 27.808 million bushels, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The tally also lagged traders' estimates.

 

Midday U.S. soybean barge basis bids for the first half of March fell 2 cents Monday, cash sources said.

 

CBOT South American soybean futures also ended higher Monday. The CBOT SAS May futures settled up 2 1/2 cents at US$6.17 per bushel.

 

News about Brazil's cash market was quiet due to Carnivale celebrations, sources said.

 

Meanwhile, traders noted talk that recent rains in Argentina had aided that country's soy crop.

 

 

SOY PRODUCTS

 

CBOT soymeal futures ended firm Monday after bellwether May set a near 3-month low early. The nearby five contracts closed up US$1.00 to US$1.60 per tonne.

 

In CBOT soymeal trades, commodity funds were about even traders on the session. Man Financial sold 400 May and Citigroup sold 500 July, brokers said.

 

In spread trade, Tenco Inc. spread 500 March/May, Iowa Grain spread 300 March/May and Citigroup spread 400 March/May, they said.

 

CBOT May oil share ended Monday at 39.58%, and the May crush was at 56 1/2 cents.

 

Soyoil futures closed mostly higher, with the nearby five CBOT soyoil contracts up 0.03 cent per pound to unchanged.

 

In Monday's CBOT soyoil trades, funds sold about 2,000 lots while commercials were net buyers. JP Morgan bought 1,200 May and 200 March; Bunge sold a net 100 May, 100 March and 100 July; Calyon Financial and Man Financial each sold a net 500 May; and the speculative arm of JP Morgan sold 400 May, brokers said.

 

In soyoil spread trade, JP Morgan spread 900 March/May, they noted.