After seeing the weak ethanol output and assuming a similar slump for soy crushers, the bean market dropped double digits to finish 10 ¾ to 17 ¼ cents in the red on Thursday. Soymeal futures also dropped by $4.10 to $5.10 on Thursday. Front month Soy oil futures closed 70 to 79 points weaker on the day.  

The Canadian canola crush was shown at 943k MT for December according to the StatsCan data. That was up 14.1%, bringing the season total to 4.578 MMT. Canadian Canola Prices were down by over 1.5% across the front months on the day. That led contracts back to near their contract lows.

The weekly FAS data showed 560,869 MT of soybeans were booked during the week that ended 1/18. That was below expectations and was 57% of last year’s volume. Bean commitments were at 37.9 MMT as of 1/18 compared to 45.3 MMT last year. 

USDA’s weekly Export Sales data also had 255.8 MT of soymeal sales, which was inline with estimates. Soybean oil sales were reported at 118 MT compared to the -5k to +10k MT expected. 

While Brazilian soybeans exports are slowing seasonally, freight sources are projecting that January shipments will still total 2.3 MMT, vs. less than 1 MMT in January 2023.  Soybean harvest is ramping up for the 2024 crop, with Mato Grosso now around 13% done and Parana at 12%.  National estimates are still in the 6-7% range. 

Mar 24 Soybeans  closed at $12.23, down 17 1/4 cents,

Nearby Cash   was $11.68 3/4, down 17 cents,

May 24 Soybeans  closed at $12.30 1/4, down 16 1/4 cents,

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Jul 24 Soybeans  closed at $12.37 1/2, down 15 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.