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US Biofuels Update: Futures Rise on US-China Sentiment, Record Crush Data

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Biofuels feedstock futures closed higher on Wednesday as the soybean and corn futures recovered from selling pressure to begin the week.

The Chicago Board of Trade May soybean futures contract closed 0.78% higher at $11.67 per bushel and the CBOT May soybean oil futures contract settled 1.75% higher at 67.60 cents per pound.

On Tuesday, the May ethanol futures contract on Nymex ended 0.52% lower at $1.92 per gallon.

Rhett Montgomery, DTN analyst, said soybean traders liked what they heard from President Trump about China and its unwillingness to supply Iran with weapons.

"The soybean market got a boost on Wednesday morning after President Trump said that China had agreed not to supply weapons to Iran," Montgomery stated in a daily note.

He added that the potential for a fallout of US-China relations had caused anxiety within the market to begin the week, especially when Trump threatened tariff action against China if they were to materially support Iran

The National Oilseeds Processors Association reported on Wednesday that the US soybean crush for March totaled 226.2 million bushels, the second-highest monthly total ever. This suggests total US crush will fall near 232 mb when the US Department of Agriculture releases its next Fats and Oils report in early May, Montgomery noted.

If realized, cumulative crush for the marketing year to date, from September through March, would be 8.9% ahead of the same point in 2025.

Soybean oil stocks, as of March, totaled 2.03 billion pounds, reaching a 13-year high, NOPA reported.

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