Soy Futures Higher on Friday

Soybean futures closed Friday with 7 1/2 to 15 1/4 cent gains. That reduced November futures’ loss for the week to 40 cents after bouncing off their 100-week average. The meal market closed with $6.80 to $7.20 gains for Friday. That left the May contract at a $20.90/ton loss for the week. Soybean oil futures bounced into the weekend with triple digit gains, but stayed over 4 cents in the red for the week. USDA saw the B100 cash price at $5.79/gal in IL this week, unchanged from last week. 

The CFTC data showed managed money traders were 110,786 contracts net long in soybeans as of 3/21. That was a 17k contract weaker net long for the week, mainly driven by long liquidation. The commercial bean hedgers put on 12k new hedges, mostly longs, which left the group at 190,682 contracts net short. CFTC reported the funds were selling back existing soymeal longs and adding new soy oil shorts through the week. That left the group at a 115,214 contract net long for meal but a 5,718 contract net short for soy oil. 

Farm Futures survey results project 23/24 soybean area will be 89.621m acres, a 2.5% increase yr/yr. 

Weekly FAS data showed 152,479 MT of soybeans were sold for export during the week that ended 3/16. That was down from 655k MT last week, and was only 12% of the same week last year’s sale. The week’s export shipment was 704k MT for a MY total of 43.534 MMT. USDA has the full year’s total marked at 54.8 MMT. The weekly report also had 199k MT of new crop bean sales – led by Chinese and unknown purchasers. The total 23/24 forward book was .75 MMT as of 3/16. 

May 23 Soybeans  closed at $14.28 1/4, up 8 3/4 cents,

Nearby Cash   was $13.96 3/8, up 10 1/8 cents,

Jul 23 Soybeans  closed at $14.06 1/4, up 7 3/4 cents,

Nov 23 Soybeans  closed at $12.73 1/4, up 15 1/4 cents,