Soybeans Lower Overnight as Bank Issues Percolate

Soybeans are 2 to 5 cents lower for the start of the new week, trying to value the banking situation and gauge any potential demand implications for food and fuel. The soy market has stayed relatively firm when compared to corn and wheat. Friday was the exception as beans closed the last trade day of the week with 2 to 7 cent losses. May beans were a net 11 3/4 cents weaker for the week. Soymeal futures closed $0.10 to $1 weaker on the day, with May meal a net $4.60/ton higher Friday to Friday. Soybean oil prices weakened by 32 to 47 points on Friday, for a weekly move of -4.58 cents for May – to the lowest print since July. The March contracts will expire on Tuesday. 

There were zero deliveries against March meal once again, with the oldest long dated February 27. There were 20 contracts put out against March BO, all stopped by a Dorman customer. A JPM customer put out 50 contracts against March beans, with Bunge on the stopping end of all of them. 

The most recent update from CFTC, still behind and as of the 2/21 settle, had soybean spec traders sitting on a 189,009 contract net long. That was up 6,801 contracts from the previous week, and futures were up 11 ½ cents during that reporting period. In soymeal, the funds were 154,141 contracts net long. Managed money funds were building their net long in soy oil through the week that ended 2/21, to 34k contracts from only 22,323 the week before. .  

The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange (BAGE) followed the lead of the Rosario group, cutting projected Argentine production by 4.5 MMT to 29 MMT. Malaysian palm oil inventory at the end of February was 6.56% smaller than January, at 2.12 MMT. 

Mar 23 Soybeans  closed at $15.07, down 3 3/4 cents, currently up 8 3/4 cents

Nearby Cash   was $14.68 3/4, down 3 7/8 cents,

May 23 Soybeans  closed at $14.94 3/4, down 4 cents, and down 2 ¼ cents this morning

Jul 23 Soybeans  closed at $13.57 1/2, down 2 1/2 cents, currently down 3 ¼ cents