Soybean

Soymeal on the European meals and feeds market rose after a slight recovery in U.S. futures from the previous day’s sell-off and helped by firm premiums in Brazil. Brazilian high-protein soymeal for July shipment was offered up $7 at $436 a tonne, cif Rotterdam, while Argentine high-protein soymeal for the same period was marked up $2 to $405 a tonne, cif Rotterdam. Rising cash premiums in Brazil, where strong demand from China amid a row with Washington has coincided with logistical backlogs due to a transport dispute, were also supporting European prices. Rapemeal was quoted between unchanged and two euros per tonne higher, after holding up better than soymeal earlier in the week when it was supported by a falling euro.

The delay in rain has increased demand for the short-duration varieties of soybean in Madhya Pradesh this season. The conditions have become unfavourable for other varieties of the oilseed due to the fortnight’s delay in the southwest monsoon rain. Farmers are asking for JS 9560 and JS 2034 short duration varieties because it matures in around 85-86 days while long duration varieties mature in 94-95 days. Sowing may get late this year if the monsoon rains are delayed further. In the western parts of the state where there have been pre-monsoon showers, farmers started sowing but soon stopped because their crop was damaged after germination due to higher day temperature and soil heat stress.

The soybean crush in Brazil’s largest producing state was down 10.2% to 812,700 mt despite a rise in crush margins.

The order came in April. China’s government instructed farmers in the country’s northeastern breadbasket region to grow more soybeans. But soybean fields lay empty in the village of Sandaogou. It has been a dry spring. China is the world’s largest consumer of soybeans, a key product for making things like oil and pig feed, and is America’s biggest buyer of the beans. But China has raised tariffs on a number of items including soybeans shipped from the U.S., in retaliation against new import duties on Chinese goods imposed by the Trump administration. On Monday, President Trump ordered his trade representative to draft a new list of $200 billion in Chinese goods for further tariffs, in a sharp escalation of the trade fight between the world’s top two economies. In May, China’s agriculture ministry said the country will reduce its soybean imports for the first time in 15 years. To make up for part of the loss, the central government ordered local authorities to set aside 1.6 million acres of land to grow more soybeans. The country already cultivates nearly 21 million acres of the crop. China produced 14.2 million metric tons of soybeans last year and imported almost 100 million more to meet domestic demand, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A third of those imports were from the U.S.

Soybean prices in Indore rose because of reports of delay in the progress of southwest monsoon in the interior parts of the country. Most Madhya Pradesh markets were closed because of Amavasya. The most-active July contract on NCDEX were up 31 rupees at 3,449 rupees per 100 kg.

Crushers in Argentina, which is experiencing its worst drought in decades, have imported 245,000 mt of Brazilian soybeans so far this year, more than the last seven years combined, and the total is expected to rise. From Brazil, exports to Argentina reached 109,000 mt last month, taking the total to nearly a quarter of a million tonnes so far this year. Argentina, the world’s third largest producer and exporter of soybeans and the largest exporter of soymeal and soyoil, has suffered a dry summer that has baked its crop and slashed soybean production by almost 40% to about 35 million mt. In order to keep crushers running and meet contractual commitments to sell soymeal and soyoil, Argentina’s crushers have bought almost 500,000 mt from the US. But while that is for delivery in the next crop year, starting in September, crushers had been seeking more immediate purchases from Brazil.

Soybean stocks at major crushers in China rose again last week to hit a fresh record high of 8.54 million mt. China is expected to import 97 million tonnes of soybeans from all origins in the marketing year ending Aug. 31. The country imported more than 36 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans in the 2016/17 season.

With farmers getting good remuneration from soybean in 2017-18 season, and with forecast of normal monsoon, SOPA (Soybean Processors Association of India has predicted a 14% increase in 2018-19 soybean acreage in India. Soybean could be sown on 120 lakh ha in the country, against 105 lakh ha last year.

As per SEA, India’s oil meal exports in May fell 33% from a year ago to 97,036 tonnes as shipments of soymeal and rapeseed meal dropped. Soymeal exports during May 2018 were reported down at 41,452 tonnes from 48,900 tonnes a year ago. The government is likely to raise import duty on soy oil to send positive price signals to farmers. Currently the import duty on crude soy oil is 30% import tax while that on refined soy oil is 35%.

The area coverage under soybean is reported as on 1st week of june down 70% at 0.05 lakh hectares compared to 0.17 lakh hectares at the same period last year. The total sown area under kharif oilseeds is higher compared to the previous year’s level which is up by 3.67% at 0.93 lakh hectares compared to 0.90 lakh hectares during the corresponding period last year. The total sown area under kharif oilseeds is higher compared to the previous year’s level which is up by 3.67% at 0.93 lakh hectares compared to 0.90 lakh hectares during the corresponding period last year.

The most-active July soybean contract on the NCDEX fell nearly 1% as sowing in key growing areas in the country gathered momentum with the progress of monsoon. The contract was at 3,412 rupees per 100 kg, down nearly 1% from the previous close. Soybean sowing was at 17,000 ha, up 31% from a year ago. Reports of weak soymeal exports also weighed on sentiment. However, any sharp fall was limited due to gains in key soybean contracts on the CBOT.

Acreage of Kharif soybean in the country was at 16,800 ha, up 28.2%. The normal area of soybean for the period is 5,100 ha. Normal area is calculated by taking out the average value of acreage in the last five years during the corresponding period. Soybean sowing has so far started in Gujarat, Karnataka and Uttarakhand, and is higher in all the three states so far.

Brazil exports of soybean to China in May hit 9.76 million mt, almost 80% of the total volume exported and a monthly record. The figure is equivalent to around 160 cargoes of soybeans and eclipses the previous record by more than 1.4 million mt, set in April 2017 last year. Brazil total exports for May, released Monday, reached 12.35 million mt.

China soybean imports leapt in May from the previous month as buyers scooped up purchases from Brazil’s bumper harvest, but were still in line with the same month last year, despite markets concerns over a U.S. trade war. China imported 9.69 million tonnes of the oilseed in May, up from April’s 6.9 million tonnes, but just 1 percent higher than in May last year. China jan-may soybean imports at 36.17 mln tonnes.

U.S. soybean prices inched up after marking their lowest in four months earlier in the session, but were still set for their biggest weekly loss since August 2017 amid expectations for bumper North American output. The most active soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 4.5 percent for the week, on course for their biggest weekly slide since Aug. 4, 2017. Soybeans hit their lowest since Feb. 6 at $9.72-1/2 a bushel.

June is shaping up to be a good month for farmers across the Midwest. Forecasts for the next two weeks show normal to above-normal rainfall for the majority of the Midwest. Over the next two-week period there will be a wetter pattern than we’ve had the past two weeks.

The July futures contract of soybean hit a two-month low of $9.9225 a bushel on the CBOT because of normal-to-above normal rains in midwest US, the key growing region for the oilseed. The most active July contract was at $9.9525 a bushel, flat from the previous close. Uncertainty over trade talks between the US and China is also seen weighing on prices.

Soybean contracts on the NCDEX fell ahead of the onset of monsoon and firmness in the rupee against the dollar. The most active June contract was down 29 rupees. Earlier-than-expected arrival of monsoon in Kerala has raised hope sowing of the oilseed will be higher in the country. Higher arrivals of the oilseed are also seen weighing on prices.

Uttarakhand’s kharif soybean acreage was at 8,000 ha, down 11.1% on year. The normal area of soybean for the entire kharif season in Uttarakhand is 12,700 ha. The state’s soybean production is quite low compared to the other major producers such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Sowing of soybean is yet to begin in those states and in other parts of the country.

NCDEX June soybean contract hit a four-month low of 3,517 rupees per 100 kg because of sluggish demand for the oilseed from oil and meal producers. The most-active June futures were down 1.3%. In Indore, the benchmark market, prices were down 25 rupees. Weakness in contracts on CBOT also weighed on domestic soybean futures.