Soybean futures edge up in American trade

Soybean futures tilted higher in American trade even as the dollar gained ground as well, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest soybean producer and exporter. 

As of 08:36 GMT, soybean futures due on July 15 rose 0.30% to $0.91375 from the opening of $0.91100, while the dollar index rose 0.19% to 97.45 from the opening of 97.26. 

The US Department of Agriculture's report last week showed net soybean crop sales up to 340.2 million metric tonnes in the agriculture year 2016-2017 , even as sales in the week ending June 8 were below the last four-week average by 15%, while net sales for the year 2017-2018 hit 314 million tonnes. 

Total soybean exports jumped 53% in the week ending June 8 to 489 million tonnes, also up 45% from the four-week average. 

The USDA report showed soybean acreage at 83.4 million acres in the year 2016-2017, with a path that could hit 89.5 million next year, same forecast as in January, while the harvest is estimated at 82.7 million acres, and could reach 88.6 million next year. 

The report said the harvest in 2016-2017 could reach 52.1 bushel per acre, before falling to 48.0 bushels per acre in 2017-2018, and as for inventories, they're estimated at 191 million bushels in the 2015-2016 year, and 197 million bushels in 2016-2017, while forecasting 450 million bushels for the year 2017-2018.