Soybean futures experienced a decline on Tuesday morning, dropping 5 to 6 cents in the front months. This follows a rough trading day on Monday, where prices fell between 8 and 11.5 cents across most contracts. Open interest also took a hit, decreasing by 8,229 contracts on the same day.
The cmdtyView national average cash bean price witnessed a decrease of 11.5 cents, settling at $10.23. Soymeal futures reported losses ranging from 20 cents to $1.30, while soy oil futures faced similar downturns with losses between 34 and 51 points. Additionally, six deliveries against December soybean oil were recorded overnight.
According to Monday morning’s Export Inspections report, a total of 1.018 million metric tons (MMT), equivalent to 37.41 million bushels, of soybeans were shipped during the week ending December 4. This figure represents a significant 41.4% decrease compared to the same week last year, though it shows a 10.6% increase over the previous week’s totals. Mexico emerged as the largest buyer, importing 132,050 MT, followed by China with 119,895 MT and Indonesia with 91,171 MT. Cumulatively, the marketing year’s total shipments of soybeans have reached 12.9 MMT, reflecting a 45.2% decline relative to the same period last year.
In other trade news, a backlog of USDA Export Sales reports from the week ending November 6 revealed that soybean bookings fell to 510,554 MT, marking a marketing year low. This slump can be attributed to the absence of most buyers during the recent price rally, though China did purchase a total of 232,000 MT during that week.
Traders are awaiting updates from the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), which will be released on Tuesday. Analysts anticipate that U.S. soybean ending stocks could increase by 16 million bushels, reaching a total of 306 million bushels if estimates prove accurate.
In a noteworthy development, the Argentine economy minister announced a reduction in the soybean export tax, which will decrease by two percentage points to 24%. Concurrently, the export tax on soybean products is set to drop to 22.5%.
As of the latest figures, January 26 soybeans closed at $10.93 3/4, down 11.5 cents, while currently showing a decline of 6 cents. Nearby cash prices stood at $10.23, reflecting an 11.5 cent drop. March 26 soybeans closed at $11.05 3/4, decreasing by 10.25 cents and down 5.75 cents currently, while May 26 soybeans closed at $11.16 3/4, down 8.75 cents, with a current decrease of 5 cents.
