Soybean futures hovered around $11.80 per bushel, consolidating their recent pullback yet holding near a five-week high, as traders squared positions ahead of the USDA’s closely watched supply-and-demand report. Due later today, the report will incorporate the agency’s end-June acreage and grain stocks figures.
Ahead of the USDA’s weekly export sales release, analysts expect net old-crop US soybean sales for the week ended July 2 to come in between 50,000 and 500,000 metric tons, with new-crop sales projected in a range of 150,000 to 500,000 tons.
Soybean prices have gained more than 4% so far this week, buoyed by the USDA’s confirmation of private sales totaling 472,000 tons of US soybeans to China. Market sentiment was further supported by reports that Chinese state grain trader COFCO purchased at least 10 cargoes—roughly 600,000 tons—of US soybeans over the same period.
Firmer crude oil prices also underpinned the market amid renewed US–Iran tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, as soybeans often track oil due to their role as a key biofuel feedstock.
