Soybeans closed out the Friday session with contracts in retreat mode from the Thursday rally, as contracts were down 3 ¾ to 8 cents across the board. January was up 5 ½ cents on the week. CmdtyView’s national front month Cash Bean price was down 7 1/4 cents at $9.30 3/4. Soymeal futures put the short covering on pause for Friday, with contracts back down $2.70 to $4.80/ton. January still managed a $6.40 gain on the week. Soy Oil futures posted steady trade to 12 point gains.

The weekly Export Sales report from this morning tallied 978,351 MT of 2024/25 soybeans sold in the week of 12/19. That was below the analysts’ estimates of 1 to 1.8 MMT and a MY low. China was the largest buyer at 410,600 MT, with Spain in for 259,500 MT. Another round of 125,000 MT was sold for 2025/26 on the high end of the 70,000 to 125,000 MT.

Soybean meal sales were tallied at a combined 485,635 MT, with 389,634 MT for 2024/25, exceeding the trade range of 200,000 to 450,000 MT estimates. Columbia was in for 154,100 MT. Soybean oil was reported at 40,400 MT, well above the trade’s 5,000 to 15,000 MT estimates. 

The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange estimates the Argentina soybean acreage at 18.4 million hectares (45.47 million acres), which is down 0.2 million ha (~500,000 acres) from their prior number.

Jan 25 Soybeans  closed at $9.80, down 8 cents,

Nearby Cash  was $9.30 3/4, down 7 1/4 cents,

Mar 25 Soybeans  closed at $9.89 3/4, down 7 1/2 cents,

Jul 25 Soybeans  closed at $10.12, down 6 1/2 cents,