Soybean futures were another 11 ¼ to 13 ¼ cents weaker on Friday, leading the front months to new lows for the move. March beans finished at a net 41 ¾ cent loss on the day. Soymeal futures ended the session with 1.5% to 3.3% losses, led by the in-deliver Jan contract. Soy oil futures also pushed the downside on Friday with 51 to 71 point losses of as much as 1.5%.
The Commitment of Traders report had managed money spec traders on an 11,629 contract net short as of 1/2. That was their 2nd net short since March of 2020, and came via net new selling for the week. Commercial soybean traders were 77,956 contracts net short on 1/2 after a week of 12.9k new long contracts added. Spec traders had reduced their net long in soymeal by 16k contracts to 43,039 as of 1/2 – via net new spec selling. The funds were shown 50,554 contracts net short in soybean oil on 1/2. That was a 901 contract stronger net short for the week as the net new spec selling outweighed the new spec longs.
Weekly Export Sales data showed a MY low 201k MT of soybeans were booked during the week that ended 12/28. Beans have also gone nearly a month (Dec 19th) since a daily export sale announcement. Total soybean commitments trail last year’s pace by 15% with 36.55 mbu on the books. USDA reported soymeal sales at 81.4k MT for the week that ended 12/28. Estimates were to see between 50k and 400k MT. Soy oil bookings were 1.2k MT.
Local sources show Argentine soybean planting is 86% complete, a little behind last year’s drought accelerated 94% pace. Crop condition is rated 42% good/ex, and improved from the previous week.
Jan 24 Soybeans closed at $12.49 3/4, down 12 1/4 cents,
Nearby Cash was $12.00, down 11 7/8 cents,
Mar 24 Soybeans closed at $12.56 1/4, down 11 1/4 cents,
May 24 Soybeans closed at $12.64 1/4, down 12 1/4 cents,
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.
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