CBOT soybeans touch 17-month high ahead of long-awaited USDA reports

CHICAGO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures hit their highest in nearly 17 months on Thursday as traders positioned for a long-awaited government crop report due Friday in which analysts expect the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lower its estimate of the U.S. soybean harvest.

• Most-active CBOT January soybeans SF26 settled up 13-1/4 cents at $11.47 per bushel after reaching $11.50-1/2, the highest on a continuous chart of the most-active contract Sv1 since June 2024.

• CBOT December soymeal SMZ25 ended up $7.40 at $328.40 per short ton while December soyoil BOZ25 fell 0.37 cent to finish at 50.25 cents per pound.

• Ahead of Friday's USDA supply/demand reports, the first since mid-September, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expect the government to lower its estimates of U.S. 2025 soybean yield and production.

• Traders are also bracing for the resumption of export data to give clues on Chinese soybean purchases.

• Following a 43-day U.S. government shutdown, the USDA on Thursday began releasing export sales data, starting with its weekly report from the week ended September 25, and it planned to issue a list on Friday showing daily sales of U.S. agricultural products over the last six weeks.

• The USDA reported export sales of U.S. soybeans in the week ended September 25 at 870,500 metric tons, in line with trade expectations for 300,000 to 1,600,000 tons.

• Meanwhile, Brazilian government crop agency Conab said the country will reap a record soybean crop of 177.6 million tons in the 2025/2026 harvest year.