Refco and ADM Investor Services each bought 300 May early, traders said. Citigroup bought 200 March.
Soyabean prices reached a five-month high in the e-cbot night session, lifted by concerns that dryness in Southern Brazil was cutting bean yields. Overnight volume was huge at 7,584 contracts.
Some meteorologists as of late Monday night took some rain out of their forecasts for this week in Southern Brazil. But some forecasts early Tuesday added rain. Either way, yields were seen getting cut, especially in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Hot and dry weather in Rio Grande do Sul, Parana and in southern Mato Grosso, Brazil, was stressing the filling of the soyabean crop there and yield losses are ongoing, Meteorlogix weather service said.
More rain was also needed for pod filling soya in Santa Fe and northern Buenos Aires, Argentina, to prevent crop losses, Meteorlogix said.
Soyameal futures were higher despite weakness in the US cash soyameal market. The softness reflected an increase of beans moving into crushing plants along with buyers uneasy about booking sales given the recent strength in CBOT meal prices.
March soyameal was up $2.20 at $171.40, while the deferreds were up $2.40 to $4 per ton. March soyaoil was up 0.53 at 20.60 cents per lb, with the back months 0.33 to 0.51 cent higher. Malaysian palm oil futures closed higher overnight after Friday's surge in CBOT soyabeans.
The CFTC reported on Friday that funds cut their heavy net short position in CBOT soyameal and soyaoil futures during the week ended February 15. In soyameal futures, large speculators were long 13,415 lots, up 3,112, and short 38,028, down 15,327 from the previous week.
In CBOT soyaoil futures, large speculators were long 21,071 futures, down 1,402, and short 53,253, down 8,069.