Soybeans Drop Off for Red Friday
Beans attempted to firm up for the weekend, but pressure set in in the afternoon. Futures ultimately finished fractionally to 1 ½ cents weaker on the day, leaving the March contract with a net 11c loss for the week. Soymeal futures closed $0.20 to $4.80 weaker on the day and $5.60 lower for the week. Front month Soy oil prices were down by 51 to 72 cents on Friday leaving March 135 points weaker for the week.
Daily traffic for the Panama Canal was reduced to 24 vessels/day through April. The Panama Canal Administrator Ricuarte Vásquez reported a total that 791 (20%) fewer ships had passed through the canal since the daily traffic restrictions began in November.
USDA reported a private export sale announcement of 297,000 MT of soybeans to China this morning. Soybean bookings during the week that ended on January 11 totaled 781,300 MT, well above the week prior and on the high end of the 400k MT to 900k MT trade estimates. New crop soybean sales were tallied at 1,700 MT in the expected sub-50k MT range. Pre-report estimates for soymeal sales range from 100k MT to 400k MT, with actual sales coming in on the high side at 349,200 MT. Bean oil sales totaled just 100 MT.
The BAGE estimates that 97% of the Argentine soybean crop is now planted. They rate 55% good or excellent, up 4% from last week, with 2% rated poor.
Mar 24 Soybeans closed at $12.13 1/4, down 1/4 cent,
Nearby Cash was $11.57 1/1, up 1/8 cent,
May 24 Soybeans closed at $12.23, down 1 1/4 cents,
Jul 24 Soybeans closed at $12.32, down 1 cent,
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.
