For the first time in more than a week, the nearby spread closed at carry. That followed on Tuesday's weakness, which coincided with a break in the CIF market at the US Gulf amid thinner export interest.
Importers are beginning to switch their buying interest to cheaper supplies in Brazil and Argentina. Soyameal and soyaoil also made fresh lows on Wednesday, with little news to counter the current bearish sentiment prevalent among CBOT traders.
"There is a synergism when one market falls, the others go down, too," said Vice Lesbians, a floor broker with A.G. Edwards. But mostly firm cash markets amid limited farmer sales underpinned futures prices.
South American weather remains favourable for a likely huge harvest this year. Rains of 0.50 inch to 2 inches fell across Rio Grande do Soul, Brazil, overnight giving the driest area of Brazil's soya region a much-needed drink.
More reminders of large world oilseed stocks surfaced on Wednesday when Statistics Canada reported Canadian soya stocks as of December 31 were at 2.1 million tonnes, up 56.9 percent from 2003.
Canola stocks were 34.9 percent higher from the year before at 5.4 million tonnes. Trading featured firms rolling their March positions before first notice day on February 28. In outright trade, funds were net sellers of 1,000 to 1,500 lots.
Soyameal futures settled mostly higher, after slipping to contract lows at one point. The only 2005 contract to close lower was March, down 50 cents at $152.20 per ton, pressured by prospects that crushers will be paying less for beans as export demand backs off, traders said.
Processor bids in Decatur, Illinois fell 10 cents on Wednesday afternoon. The deferred months settled $2.70 higher to 50 cents lower. Overnight export business featured South Korea buying 53,000 tonnes of South American soyameal.
The soyaoil market dipped to contract lows again, after short-covering bounce. Concerns about abundant vegetable oil stocks world-wide remains bearish, traders said. March soyaoil was down 0.10 cent at 18.94 cents per lb., just above its contract low of 18.92 cents.
The deferred closed 0.10 cent lower to 0.05 cent higher.
Malaysian palm oil futures fell overnight in step with the decline on Tuesday of CBOT soyaoil futures.