Chicago soybeans continued to find support from expectations of large Chinese purchases, while Chicago soybean oil and Malaysian palm oil declined further as crude oil prices retreated to pre-war levels.
The July soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 0.20% to $11.11 per bushel. The July CBOT soybean oil contract slipped 0.71% to 68.97 cents per pound.
Declining crude oil prices erode the competitiveness of biofuels, pressuring feedstocks such as soybean oil and palm oil.
As for soybeans, "prices will continue to be sensitive to Chinese demand, or the lack thereof," said Mark Soderberg of ADM Investor Services.
The US Soybean Export Council reportedly urged Chinese buyers to increase their US soybean purchases, citing better quality compared with Brazilian cargoes.
In terms of supply, favorable growing conditions in the US continued to boost prospects for higher yields.
"Abundant rainfall in the Midwest continued to pressure prices," price reporting agency MySteel said, "though persistent conditions may begin to hinder crop growth."
The market now awaits the end-of-month prospective plantings report by the US Department of Agriculture for direction.
In Asia, Malaysian palm oil futures tracked losses in crude oil and rival soybean oil, and hit one-week lows on Thursday.
Falling for a third straight session, the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives' July crude palm oil contract lost 1.36% to 4,513 Malaysian ringgit ($1,087.21) per metric ton. The August crude palm oil contract fell 1.50% to 4,535 ringgit/mt.
A strengthening Malaysian ringgit also pressured prices. It firmed against the US dollar for a third consecutive session on Thursday, rising by a further 0.58% and making exports more expensive for foreign buyers.
This weighs on Malaysian shipments, which have so far shown a 19.1% to 25% month-over-month growth in the June 1-20 period, based on the latest cargo estimates.
During the same period, the country's crude palm oil production rose 4.76% from a month earlier, media outlets reported, citing estimates by the Malaysia Palm Oil Association.
However, a developing El Nino weather phenomenon could impact yields and reduce output going forward.
The last strong El Nino episode, which occurred from early 2015 through mid 2016, curbed palm oil yields by 8.3% in Indonesia and 14.2% in Malaysia, according to S&P Global Energy.
In Indonesia, the July 1 rollout of a higher biodiesel blend of 50%, up from the current ratio of 40%, will also reduce exportable supplies.
Analysts and industry bodies expect prices all of this to provide support to prices in the coming months.
Meanwhile, July ethanol prices on the NYMEX recovered 0.55% to $1.83 per gallon on Wednesday, as domestic production eased while stocks increased slightly.
Data from the US Energy Information Administration showed that output for the week ended June 19 dropped to 1.09 million barrels per day from 1.10 mmbbls/d a week earlier.
Domestic inventories rose week over week to 24.6 million barrels from 24.5 mmbbls, while exports fell to 121,000 barrels per day from 126,000 b/d.