Soybean Prices Keep Climbing This Thursday

Soybean Market Update: Prices Surge on Thursday

Soybean futures experienced notable gains on Thursday, climbing between 18 and 21 ¼ cents, while contracts for the upcoming harvest season advanced by 7 to 11 cents. The national average cash price for soybeans, as reported by cmdtyView, increased by 20 cents to reach $10.47. Soybean meal futures saw a rise of $5 to $7, whereas soybean oil futures remained mostly unchanged or slipped by up to 11 points in the nearby contracts. The upward momentum in futures continued from Wednesday, following President Trump's efforts to boost Chinese soybean purchases to 20 million metric tons for the current marketing year, up from the previously stated 12 million metric tons.

The average closing price for November soybean futures during February is used to set the spring crop insurance rate. So far, this average stands at $10.85, which is higher than last year's figure of $10.54.

Latest Insights from Barchart

Export Sales and International Trade Highlights

According to the USDA's latest Export Sales report, soybean sales for the week ending January 29 totaled 436,949 metric tons. This figure represents a 46.65% decrease from the prior week, but a 32.34% increase compared to the same period last year. China accounted for 233,000 metric tons, with Egypt purchasing 104,700 metric tons and Mexico buying 81,000 metric tons.

Sales of soybean meal reached 380,335 metric tons, which falls within the expected range of 250,000 to 500,000 metric tons. Meanwhile, soybean oil sales were reported at 963 metric tons, landing at the lower end of the anticipated 0 to 25,000 metric tons.

Brazil exported 1.88 million metric tons of soybeans in January, based on government trade statistics. This volume is down 44.54% from December but marks a 75.51% increase over January of the previous year.

Recent Soybean Closing Prices

• March 26 Soybeans closed at $11.12 1/4, up 20 cents
• Nearby Cash price settled at $10.47, up 20 cents
• May 26 Soybeans ended at $11.26, gaining 21 1/4 cents
• July 26 Soybeans finished at $11.37 1/4, up 20 1/2 cents