Soya bean prices under pressure in USA

By Joanna Newman

IN the absence of positive news for the soya bean market, prices fell on Monday and remained all but unchanged in the lead-up to the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Chicago January futures contract settled on Wednesday (25 November) at 571.25¢/bushel, down from 582¢/bushel a week ago.

The market has come under pressure in sympathy with weaker wheat prices. Meanwhile the collapse in the pig market, where prices have halved in five months, has reduced the domestic value of all grain products as animal feed.

Most of the US harvest has now been gathered successfully, 96% against a five-year average of 93% for the time of year. American producers are resigned to trying to shift record-high bean stocks following a bumper year.

Attention is now turning to South America, where continuing good weather conditions for planting and high acreage, point to a worsening glut in world markets by the spring.