Soybean futures on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange ended higher after declining in early trade due to profit booking, because of an expected increase in soymeal exports from India, primarily to Iran.

Iran signed a contract to purchase around 200,000 tn of soymeal from India. which traditionally imports soymeal from Latin America, has been increasingly looking at India to meet its domestic demand following sanctions imposed by the US.

Tracking strength in key soybean contracts on the exchange, A decline in arrivals in India also supported prices.

Soybean futures ended the day with fractional to 1 cent gains. Meal futures were down $1.20/ton, with soy oil 24 points higher.

USDA reported a private export sale of 612,000 MT of soybeans for 18/19 delivery to China this morning, 975,775 MT of soybeans exported in the final week of January.

That was slightly higher than the week prior but still 25.2% below this week last year. Most of the shipments (42.26%) were headed to China at 412,366 MT.