May Beans Close Back above $15

Soybeans extended their bounce on Thursday and closed 8 to 15 1/2 cents higher. The May contract was a 10 1/2 cent discount to the in-delivery March contract but an 11 1/4 cent premium to the July. November prices saw a 17 3/4 cent range on the day from -4 3/4 to +13 cents. The new crop soy/corn ratio is back to 2.397 after a 2.327 average ratio through February. At the close the meal market was $2 to $2.60 higher in the active contracts, but $1.10 lower for the March. Soybean oil futures led the complex with 1.7% gains of 104 to 107 points. 

USDA’s Ag Attache has Brazil’s soybean output at 153 MMT, steady with USDA’s official forecast. They do have slightly higher exports and slightly lower crush for the balance sheet, ultimately leading Brazil’s carryout to 3.221 MMT relative to the official 2.855 MMT forecast. Agroconsult expects Brazil’s soybean crop to total 153 MMT, steady with their prior assumption. Datagro has 150.81 MMT penciled in for soybean output. 

USDA’s weekly Export Sales data showed 360,669 MT of soybeans were sold during the week that ended 2/23, which was a MY low. The week’s exports were 881k MT for a season total to 41.6 MMT. The weekly report had 134k MT of new crop sales, which set the new crop book at 1.308 MMT. Last year had 6.752 MMT on the books for new crop as of the 26th week. 

For the products, USDA’s FAS showed 172,355 MT of old crop meal was sold and 40.5k MT for new crop. That was more than double last week, but was about 15k MT below the 5-week average. Soymeal exports were shown at 193k MT for the week, bringing the season’s total to 4.847 MMT. For the oil, FAS showed 1,179 MT were sold for an accumulated commitment of 52,042 MT through 2/23. 

Mar 23 Soybeans  closed at $15.19 3/4, up 15 1/2 cents,

Nearby Cash   was $14.70 7/8, up 15 1/4 cents,

May 23 Soybeans  closed at $15.09 1/4, up 15 cents,

Jul 23 Soybeans  closed at $14.98, up 13 1/2 cents,