Soy Prices Weaken on Thursday
After the front month soybean futures spiked the $13 mark, the front months closed with 10 34 to 14 cents in the red for the day. Jan tried to hold at the mark, but closed at $12.97 ¼. The front month Soymeal futures closed $1.70 to $4.50 weaker led by the nearby Jan contract – which is now at a $9 discount to the March. Soybean Oil futures closed with triple digit losses of over 2.5% with 134 to 152 point losses.
The weekly Export Sales report showed 1.989 MMT of soybeans were sold during the week that ended 12/14. That was inline with estimates and included 1.3 MMT of sales previously announced. That lifted commitments to 35.36 MMT (1.3 bbu), which is 16.5% behind last year’s pace. USDA’s current S&D balance sheet has a 12% decrease in exports yr/yr.
FAS data showed 147,786 MT of soymeal was sold during the week that ended 12/14. That was down from 325k MT last week and was below expectations. Total soymeal exports reached 2.77 MMT – a 22% lead over last year. USDA reported a 5-wk high for soy oil sales as 3.1k MT were booked.
Celeres projects Brazilian soybean production will be 156.5 MMT in 2024, with key state Mato Grosso at 42.1 MMT. Some farmer estimates have Mato Grosso as low as 36 MMT, but there is some suspicion in the trade that they are talking their position.
Jan 24 Soybeans closed at $12.97 1/4, down 11 cents,
Nearby Cash was $12.45 7/8, down 11 1/4 cents,
Mar 24 Soybeans closed at $13.01 3/4, down 14 cents,
May 24 Soybeans closed at $13.13 1/4, down 13 1/2 cents,
On the date of publication, Alan Brugler did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
