Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures rose on Friday for a third straight session, with the March contract reaching its highest in two weeks on worries about the size of Brazil's crop and optimism that US-China trade talks next week could generate fresh sales, traders said. CBOT March soyabeans settled up 9-1/4 cents at $9.25-1/4 per bushel after reaching $9.26-1/4, the contract's highest since Jan. 9.

For the week, the March contract rose 8-1/2 cents a bushel or 0.9 percent, its second straight weekly advance. CBOT March soyameal ended up $1.60 at $313.90 per short ton. CBOT March soyaoil rose 0.52 cent at 30.03 cents per pound, its first close above 30 cents since October.

US trade talks with China, the world's top soyabean buyer, are scheduled in Washington on Jan. 30 and 31, and some expect the talks could prompt China to buy US soyabeans as a "good faith" gesture. China's soyabean imports from the United States plunged 99 percent in December to just 69,298 tonnes, customs data showed on Friday, taking its full-year 2018 imports to the lowest level since 2008 amid the ongoing trade war.

CBOT traders continue to mull lower estimates of Brazil's soyabean crop a day after Parana state, Brazil's second-largest soya producer, cut the forecast for its 2018-19 harvest to 16.8 million tonnes from 19.1 million.

Copyright Reuters, 2019