Beans Lower on Monday Morning

Prepared tofu made of soybeans

Overnight soybean action has things down 3 to 4 cents in the front months.  Beans had some stronger trade action on Friday as contracts rallied 10 to 15 cents into the close. They still posted some weakness last week as May lost 11 cents and November was down 8 ½ cents. Preliminary open interest showed net new buying, up 10,048 contracts despite active index fund rolling from May to July that created volume without much change in OI. On Friday, Soymeal futures were up $5.40 to $8.20/ton in the nearbys.  Soy Oil continued to be a drag on the complex last week, with 26 point losses in the front months on Friday.

A private export sale of 124,000 MT of soybeans to unknown destinations was reported on Friday as buyers took advantage of weaker prices. Fresh NOPA data will be out this morning, with the trade expecting 197.79 mbu of beans crushed among members during March. Soy oil stocks are pegged at 1.792 billion lbs. for NOPA members, a substantial percentage of all US stocks.  

Chinese Soybean imports in March totaled 5.54 MMT, a drop of 20% from the same month last year and a 4-year low for the month. The first quarter total was 18.58 MMT, the lowest since 2020. 

Brazil’s new soybean production estimate from Safras & Mercado was back up 2.65 MMT from their previous number, rising to 151.25 MMT. That is in the middle of the 155 MMT from USDA and 146.5 MMT from CONAB. BAGE trimmed expected Argentina production by 1.5 to 51 MMT last week.

May 24 Soybeans  closed at $11.74, up 14 3/4 cents, currently down 3 cents

Nearby Cash   was $11.20 1/1, up 14 3/4 cents,

Jul 24 Soybeans  closed at $11.86 3/4, up 14 1/4 cents, currently down 3 1/4 cents

Nov 24 Soybeans  closed at $11.76 1/4, up 12 cents, currently down 3 cents

New Crop Cash   was $11.13 3/4, up 12 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.