Beans Fade into Weekend

After rallying sharply on Wednesday and Thursday, soybeans eased back 10 3/4 to 11 1/2 cents on the week’s final trading day. For the March contract, that capped the week’s gain @ 3.25%. Soymeal futures were $6.40 to $8.10 in the red on Friday, that completed the week with a $12.90 loss in the March contract. Soybean oil futures rallied to new highs this week, having gained 7.7% from Friday to Friday. At the bell, front month BO futures were 12 to 17 points higher. USDA had B100 cash prices at $5.18/gal through the week, firm with last week’s cash market. 

USDA announced a reportable private export sale this morning as China booked 132k MT of soybeans. The weekly data showed 671k MT of beans were booked during the week that ended 1/13. That was at the low end of pre-report estimates and down 63% yr/yr. Bean exports were 1.8 MMT for the week, leaving the MYTD export program at 33.4 MMT (1.23 bbu). USDA data still had 9.7 MMT of bean bookings on the books for 21/22. Next MY beans had 994k MT on the books. 

The weekly CoT report had soybean spec traders at 99,639 contracts net long on 1/18. That was a 7,240 contract weaker net position than the previous week, due to net new spec selling. Commercial bean traders were just 1,720 contracts less net short at 249,506. In the products, CFTC reported managed money 64,743 contracts net long in meal and 58,208 contracts net long in soy oil. Compared to last week, spec traders were selling meal for a 8,177 contract weaker net long. In BO that net long was 2,301 contracts stronger to a 6-week high. 

Mar 22 Soybeans  closed at $14.14 1/4, down 11 1/2 cents,

Nearby Cash  was $13.70, down 12 cents,

May 22 Soybeans  closed at $14.23, down 11 1/2 cents,

Nov 22 Soybeans  closed at $13.16 1/4, down 4 cents,

New Crop Cash  was $12.57 3/8, down 4 cents,