Soybean futures recorded slight gains on Thursday, halting the slide for the time being. Most contracts rose between 1 and 2.25 US cents. While soybean meal futures fell by 1.40 US dollars per tonne, soybean oil was able to gain slightly during yesterday's session. The latest report from the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) will be published next Tuesday. Experts expect soybean processing for January to be 204.54 million tons - an increase of 10.1% compared to January 2024. Oilseed export sales were weaker. The weekly export report shows that soybean sales fell to the second lowest level this year at 185,502 tons. This is less than half of the previous week's total. While China purchased 222,000 tons and Egypt imported 205,200 tons, net purchases of 356,200 tons were recorded for unknown destinations. This brings the cumulative export total to 43.25 million tons, which is once again higher than the previous year's result. In addition, 24,600 tons of the new harvest were sold to Japan. At 336,736 tons, soybean meal sales were in the middle of the expected range of 200,000 to 625,000 tons. Sales of soybean oil were below estimates of 0 to 35,000 tons with a net decrease of 2,843 tons. The Brazilian agricultural institute CONAB has revised its forecast for the country's soybean production slightly downwards. Instead of the previous expectation of 166.32 million tons, it is now forecasting 166.01 million tons. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), on the other hand, is sticking to its estimate of 169 million tons.
On Euronext, rapeseed futures were largely unaffected by the volatile markets and only moved marginally. The front month rose by 0.75 euros/tonne to 522.25 euros/tonne.
ZMP Live Expert Opinion
Current developments show a mixed market situation for oilseeds. While there is bullish news such as an increase in soybean processing and higher cumulative exports, the current short-term weaker export sales are causing uncertainty and subdued buying sentiment. Overall, the outlook remains cautiously positive due to solid purchases from large buyers. Especially as the current conditions in Argentina are not ideal for the development of stocks. Overall, the volatile development is unlikely to change much and a clear direction currently seems more distant than ever.
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