Soybean futures fell by as much as 14 ¾ cents across the front months on the last trade day of the week. March beans finished at a new contract low and the lowest mark for the lead month since the fall of 2020. March options also expired at the close, with the heavily traded (4k contracts) $11.40 puts in the money. Soymeal futures ended the day $3.30 to $3.40 weaker, for a weekly loss of $14.10. Soy oil futures were at their weakest mark since 2021 with another 19 to 22 point losses for Friday.
The weekly CoT data showed soybean spec traders added 4.7k new shorts vs 2.6k new longs for a 136.7k contract net long as of 2/20. The commercial soybean traders were 36.4k contracts net long after adding 37k new contracts nearly even on both sides during the week. Managed money funds were more net short after net new selling for soymeal – at 30,684 contracts as of 2/20. Speculative traders were also adding shorts in BO for the week, which grew their net short to 52.8k contracts.
Weekly soybean bookings were a new marketing year low of just 55,919 MT. Traders were looking to see at least 300k MT sold for the week of 2/15. Total commitments for the season now trail last year’s pace by 20%. Meal sales came in at 202k MT for the week, which was inline with estimates and near last week’s sale. The weekly report also had 5k MT of soy oil sales.
The Rosario Grain Exchange lowered their Argentine production forecast 2.5 MMT to 49.5 MMT. That puts them below the February USDA forecast of 50 MMT. The BA Grain Exchange left their estimate UNCH at 52.5 MMT. They showed improvement in crop condition, with2% of the previous poor/very poor beans now rated fair.
Mar 24 Soybeans closed at $11.33, down 14 3/4 cents,
Nearby Cash was $10.81 1/2, down 14 5/8 cents,
May 24 Soybeans closed at $11.41 3/4, down 10 3/4 cents,
Jul 24 Soybeans closed at $11.51 1/4, down 9 1/2 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 Disclosure Policy here.
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