The Chicago soybean complex inched up on Thursday as the soybean crush in the US reached a record for the month and as crude oil prices continued to rise.
The August soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade rose to two-month highs and gained 0.31% to $12.06 per bushel. The August soybean oil contract firmed 0.18% to 73.05 cents per pound in early trade.
Members of the US National Oilseed Processors Association reportedly crushed 214.3 million bushels of soybeans in June, a record volume for the month. This represents an increase from May's 209 million bushels and June's 185 million bushels.
Soybean oil stocks, meanwhile, dropped to an eight-month low at 1.5 billion pounds despite the faster crush rate, indicating a rise in domestic demand, ADM Investor Services said.
Prices also remained sensitive to China's demand interest, ADM analyst Mark Soderberg said. The US Department of Agriculture has not reported any new sales to China since Tuesday.
China's imports of soybeans totaled around 13.6 million tons in June, a record for the month, as purchases grew 10.5% from a year earlier and 15% from May, according to media reports, citing customs data.
Meanwhile, a recent rally in wheat also supported soybeans, as potential logistical disruptions in the Black Sea mounted following tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
In Asia, Malaysian palm oil futures closed higher on Thursday due to strong exports and higher crude oil and rival soybean oil prices.
The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives' August crude palm oil contract was up 0.15% to 4,537 Malaysian ringgit ($1,111.96) per metric ton. The September contract firmed 0.11% to 4,574 ringgit/mt.
Cargo surveyors reportedly estimated Malaysian shipments for the July 1-15 period to have risen between 4% and 12.4% from a month earlier.
A strengthening local currency, however, is dampening export competitiveness, due to resulting higher cargo prices for international buyers.
Malaysia has kept the export duty for crude palm oil at 10% in August, as the reference price rose to 4,412.19 ringgit/mt from the prior month's 4,346.79 ringgit/mt, according to a notification from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.
In Indonesia, exports reportedly dropped 25.1% year over year to around 2.0 million metric tons in May, media outlets reported, citing Indonesian palm oil association Gapki.
Analysts expect that the country's exportable supplies will further decline following the implementation of a higher 50% palm-based biodiesel blend on July 1.
The palm oil market is expected to remain supported in H2 as B50 progresses and as yields decline toward the year-end and in 2027 due to a developing El Nino weather phenomenon.
Meanwhile, August ethanol prices on the NYMEX slipped by a further 0.13% to about $1.92 per gallon on Wednesday, as US exports slumped and inventories rose.
The US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported that, for the week ended July 10, exports plunged to 81,000 barrels per day from 200,000 b/d a week earlier.
Domestic inventories rose week over week to 24.4 million barrels from 23.9 mmbbls as a result, despite a decrease in output to 1.0 million barrels per day from 1.1 mmbbls/d.