Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures jumped on Tuesday on spillover strength from soyameal, which rallied to a 19-month high on a damaging drought in Argentina, traders said. CBOT March soyabeans finished 5 cents higher at $10.26-1/2 a bushel after trading as high as $10.39, the highest for a front-month contract since July 2017.

The front-month March soyameal futures contract gained $3.20 to $376.50 a ton. The most active contract reached its highest since July 2016. Dryness is set to continue for another week to 10 days in Argentina, according to Iowa-based broker US Commodities.

The country is the world's top exporter of soyameal and No. 3 supplier of raw soyabeans. The drought in Argentina has shriveled soya yields to the point that analysts and farmers have slashed harvest estimates by about 10 million tonnes, with final crop forecasts consolidating under the 50 million tonne mark.

Copyright Reuters, 2018