Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures ended firmer on Friday as late-session short-covering lifted prices from earlier lows, although traders continued to weigh abundant soya supplies against uncertain demand from China, traders said. CBOT March soyabeans were rose 1-1/4 cents to $9.14-1/2 per bushel. For the week, the contract was down 0.2 percent, its second straight weekly decline. CBOT March soyameal ended up 60 cents at $306.10 per short ton and March soyaoil gained 0.06 cent to 30.87 cents per pound.

Improving South American crop weather anchored prices as rains in drought-hit sections of Brazil and drier conditions in rain-soaked Argentina boosted yield prospects. A new round of US-China trade talks begins in Beijing on Monday, following up on the most recent negotiations concluded in Washington last week without a deal and with the top US negotiator declaring a lot more work needed to be done.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a flood of crop data on Friday, including some delayed by the recent government shutdown. Most of the forecasts and estimates were in line with trade expectations. USDA said soyabean stocks as of Dec. 1 stood at a record 3.736 billion bushels. That compares with 3.161 billion bushels a year earlier, the previous record. The agency trimmed its estimate of the US crop harvested last fall to 4.544 billion bushels from its previous forecast of 4.600 billion bushels.

Copyright Reuters, 2019