3-31-2006 10:26 CBOT soybeans slide early on USDA acre data
10:26 CBOT soybeans slide early on USDA acre data
CHICAGO, March 31 (Reuters) - Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of
Trade slid Friday on USDA's surprisingly large domestic soy acreage
estimate issued before the open, traders said.
May soy <SK6> was down 7-1/2 cents at $5.80-1/4 per bushel by 10:15
a.m. CST (1615 GMT). The contract fell below support at its 20-day moving
average of $5.83-1/2 to an early low of $5.79.
New-crop November <SX6> was off 7 cents at $6.08-1/2.
Rand Financial was among the sellers of soy with 700 May, traders
said.
In its yearly prospective plantings report, USDA forecast U.S. farmers
will seed 76.895 million acres of soybeans this spring.
That would be a record. The forecast was above the average of analysts'
estimates for 74.217 million and sharply above last year's planted acreage
of 72.1 million .
"It was a shockingly bearish planted acres figure for soybeans but
since you had a comparably bullish figure for corn that might actually
mitigate the bearish impact of the soybean plantings figures," said Anne
Frick, oilseed analyst with Prudential Financial.
USDA also reported that U.S. soy stocks on March 1 at 1.669 billion --
a record and 21 percent above last year's stocks.
"That was sickening," said Joe Victor, analyst with Allendale Inc.
But March 1 stocks were below an average of analysts' estimates for
1.680 billion.
Spot basis levels were mixed early Friday with sales quiet ahead of the
open, dealers said.
Overnight exports featured South Korea passing on a tender to buy
55,000 tonnes of U.S. or Brazilian soybeans.
Taiwan bought 23,000 tonnes of U.S. corn and 12,000 tonnes of U.S.
soy.
Soymeal and soyoil were pressured by the weakness in soybeans.
CBOT May soymeal <SMK6> was $2.20 lower at $177.20 per ton, with
deferreds down $2.20 to $2.70.
Tenco, R.J. O'Brien and Citigroup were among the early sellers of May,
traders said.
CBOT May soyoil <BOK6> fell 0.14 cent to 23.03 cents per lb, with the
back months down 0.04 to 0.07 cent.
Some support to soyoil stemmed from India cutting its base import
prices for crude soybean oil more than palm oil, traders said. The soybean
oil base price fell $13 a tonne versus palm oil that dropped $4 a tonne.
Malaysian palm oil futures closed mostly higher on Friday as traders
covered short positions.