Soybeans Fall into the Weekend

Friday trading cooled the market off with 2 to 13c losses across the front month bean contracts. Nov held above the $13 mark at the close and was up 22c for the week. Soymeal futures had mostly faded on Friday, but closed the day mixed and within $3 of UNCH. Dec meal prices rose a net $33.90/ton (8.7%) for the week.  Soybean Oil prices ended the last trade day of the week off the highs but still 2 to 28 points in the black. That limited the week’s pullback to 99 points for the Dec contract with the 5th consecutive red candle on the weekly continuation chart.  

Weekly CFTC data showed managed money flipped net short in soybeans for the first time since Covid after net new selling through the week that ended 10/17. The commercials added 48.7k new hedges during the week, with slightly more net new buying than short selling. That reduced the commercial net position by 3.9k contracts to a 72.5k net short. The funds were shown with a 50,698 contract net long in soymeal as of 10/17. That was an 18,639 contract stronger net long for the week. CFTC reported spec traders were 5k contracts less net long in soy oil at 20,729. 

The IGC expects 23/24 soybean production as 393 MMT. That is 3 MMT lighter than their prior estimate, with a corresponding cut to usage. Ending stocks were left at 62 MMT in their October forecast. 

Chinese data showed soybean imports from Brazil made up 6.88 MMT of the 7.15 MMT Sep import total. The U.S. share was listed at 134,000 MT for the month. 

Nov 23 Soybeans  closed at $13.02 1/4, down 13 1/4 cents,

Nearby Cash   was $12.45 3/8, down 13 5/8 cents,

Jan 24 Soybeans  closed at $13.20 1/4, down 11 1/2 cents,

Mar 24 Soybeans  closed at $13.31, down 9 cents,