Early morning strength quickly found selling, that kept soybean and product markets under pressure into the close, with weaker S American currencies thought to be freeing up Southern Hemisphere supplies. The Argentine Peso this week has slipped to a new all time low, while the Brazilian Real holds at a 5 month low. Commodity fund traders sold 5,000 soybean, 3,000 soymeal, and 4,000 soyoil contracts.
The USDA’s daily export reporting system showed 126,000 MTs of old crop soybeans sold to an unknown destination (presumed to be China), which marks the 4th announcement in the last 6 weeks. China continues to process soybeans at a record rate, with last week’s crush estimated at just over 1.8 MMTs. Cumulative crush is 9% over a year ago, while the USDA forecasts annual crush to increase 6% year over year. Brazil continues to ship soybeans at a record pace, but the US is still picking up late summer business on lower price offers.
US planting progress is near average on a national basis, though regular rains look to slow planting into the end of the month. We doubt that a lasting trend can develop until summer row crops are planted and more is known about the summer weather pattern and crop conditions.
