CHICAGO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures rose on Thursday as uncertainty about crop prospects in Argentina lifted soymeal futures to life-of-contract highs, traders said.
Corn futures fell on technical selling and a bounce in the U.S. dollar, which tends to make U.S. grains less competitive globally, although U.S. corn export sales in the latest week were larger than expected. Wheat futures inched higher in back-and-forth trade.
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) March soybean futures settled up 14 cents at $15.34-1/4, while March soymeal rose $7.10 to end at $491.80 per short ton after setting a contract high at $493.60.
March corn finished down 5-3/4 cents at $6.75-1/4 a bushel, turning lower after rising to $6.86 in early moves. Traders noted chart resistance around $6.88.
CBOT March wheat settled up 1-1/4 cents at $7.61 a bushel.
Soymeal futures climbed on worries about soy yield prospects in drought-hit Argentina, the world's top exporter of soymeal and soyoil. Much-needed rains fell in portions of Argentina's crop belt over the past week, but forecasts called for a return to hot and dry conditions.
"I think the weather in Argentina has hurt more than some are thinking. Maybe that's a reason this meal market stays so buoyant," said Sherman Newlin, an analyst with Risk Management Commodities.
Argentine officials this week said the country will take steps to help farmers hit by a historic drought, including a relief fund to tackle losses to the country's grain harvests.
Meanwhile, ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's next monthly supply/demand report due on Feb. 8, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expect the USDA to lower its Argentine corn and soybean crop estimates. A USDA attache report released this week unofficially pegged the soybean crop at 36 million tonnes, well below the USDA's last official forecast of 45.5 million tonnes.
However, forecasters continue to project a record soybean harvest in Brazil. Brokerage StoneX this week slightly raised its forecast for the Brazilian soy crop to a record-high of 154.2 million tonnes.
CBOT corn futures turned lower despite strong U.S. export data. The USDA said sales of old-crop corn in the week to Jan. 26 totalled nearly 1.6 million tonnes, topping a range of trade expectations for 600,000 to 1.2 million tonnes. The total included sales of 319,500 tonnes to China, Newlin noted. (Reporting by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Matthew Chye in Singapore Editing by Nick Zieminski and Matthew Lewis)
