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US Biofuels Update: Soybean Futures End 8-Day Loss Streak With Technical Buying

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Biofuels feedstock futures closed higher on Wednesday, with technical buying and increased tension in the Middle East supporting the markets.

The Chicago Board of Trade July soybean futures contract closed 0.83% higher at $11.23 per bushel, and the CBOT July soybean oil futures contract settled 0.42% higher at 75.33 cents per pound.

The Nymex July ethanol futures contract settled 0.91% lower on Tuesday at $1.91 per gallon.

The US launched retaliatory strikes against Iran on Tuesday, with President Trump stating that attacks will continue on Wednesday as well

Rhett Montgomery, a DTN analyst, said the soybean market finally showed some life on Wednesday.

"The soybean complex traded higher as soybeans and meal had become particularly oversold from a technical standpoint," Montgomery said.

He added that robust output will be needed to boost exports. "Traders may at this point be satisfied with the degree long positions have been trimmed, with a lingering degree of risk still present in my opinion within the soybean balance sheet, as strong production will be necessary to support the anticipated bounce back in export demand," the analyst said.

US weekly ethanol production remained unchanged for the week ending June 5, according to the US Energy Information Administration report on Wednesday.

US ethanol production averaged 1.11 million barrels per day, flat from last week and below last year's 1.12 mmb/d.

Domestic ethanol inventories ended the week at 24.5 million barrels, below 24.6 mmbbls a week ago and 23.7 mmbbls a year ago.

Traders also positioned themselves ahead of Thursday's US Department of Agriculture's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates Report.

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