Soybean Futures Are 4 to 7 Cents Lower As Brazilian Harvest Accelerates

Soybean prices are 4 to 7 cents lower to begin the new week. After rallying sharply on Wednesday and Thursday, soybeans eased back 10 3/4 to 11 1/2 cents on Friday. March still settled 3.25% higher for the week. Soymeal futures were $6.40 to $8.10 in the red on Friday, and ended the week with a $12.90 loss in the March contract. Soybean oil futures gained 7.7% from Friday to Friday, buoyed by a 7.4% jump in Malaysian palm oil. At the Friday close, front month BO futures were 12 to 17 points higher.  Malaysian Palm Prices are down more than 1% today. 

The weekly data showed 671k MT of beans were booked during the week that ended 1/13. Bean exports were 1.8 MMT for the week, leaving the MYTD export program at 33.4 MMT (1.23 bbu). 

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. Some of them were handled rudely on Wednesday and Thursday! Commercial bean traders were just 1,720 contracts less net short at 249,506. 

SAFRAS estimates that 5% of the Brazilian soybean harvest has been completed, running ahead of the 2.8% average pace. For top producer Mato Grosso, they say 13% harvested vs. 8% average. 

Mar 22 Soybeans  closed at $14.14 1/4, down 11 1/2 cents, down 4 ½ this morning

Nearby Cash  was $13.70 on Friday, down 12 cents,

May 22 Soybeans  closed at $14.23, down 11 1/2 cents, down 5 ¾ this morning

Nov 22 Soybeans  closed at $13.16 1/4, down 4 cents, down 6 ¾ this morning

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