The rally in soybean prices, which have retreated since topping $15 a bushel for the first time since 2008, is not over yet, with futures set to hit a record as further Argentine harvest downgrades feed through.

Rabobank raised to $14.75 a bushel, from $14.00 a bushel, its forecast for average soybean prices in Chicago during the April-to-June quarter, with upgrades too for values for the rest of 2012.

And the quarterly average figure may disguise a rise above the record $16.63 a bushel, for a front futures contracts, set in July 2008, given the need to ration supplies following a disappointing South American soybean harvest.

There is "now an increased risk that the previous record high may be reached or even surpassed given increasingly bullish fundamentals," the bank, a major agricultural lender, said.