OREANDA-NEWS. February 13, 2015. Soybean futures firmed on Thursday on signs that export demand for US supplies remained robust despite expectations for bumper harvests in Argentina and Brazil, traders said.

Wheat and corn futures were weaker, pressured by ample global supplies, but both commodities remained stuck within recent ranges.

Soybeans received an additional boost from technical buying after the benchmark Chicago Board of Trade march contract hit its 10-day moving average, which has been a level of support throughout the month.

The US Agriculture Department on Thursday morning said weekly soybean export sales were a better-than-expected 746,200 tonnes.

"South America is not really taking over our export base," That's probably the No. 1 thing," said Bill Gentry, broker at Risk Management Commodities in Lafayette, Indiana. "Since the (South American) crop is not ready yet, it is not really direct competition."

Domestic demand for soybeans also was strong, causing US cash market dealers to tighten basis bids in an effort to drum up sales from farmers.

CBOT March soybeans were up 4-1/2 cents at \\$9.82-1/4 a bushel at 11:38 a.m. CST (1738 GMT). CBOT March corn was 2-1/4 cents lower at \\$3.83-1/2 a bushel and CBOT soft red winter wheat for March delivery was down 3-3/4 cents at \\$5.22 a bushel.

Dealers said the market looked set to move sideways in the short term, with possible rallies constrained by the global supply glut.

"We are more bearish than consensus forecasts due to ongoing concerns about oversupply, weak demand growth estimates and record high inventories," Intesa Sanpaolo analyst Daniela Corsini said in a market note.

Corsini forecast CBOT corn futures would fall to \\$3.50 a bushel in the second quarter of this year before recovering slightly to \\$3.70 in the fourth quarter.