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US Biofuels Update: Soybean Futures Finish Higher for 3rd Straight Session

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Biofuels feedstock futures closed mixed on Tuesday, with the soybean market holding to marginal gains despite bearish influence from the products markets.

The Chicago Board of Trade July soybean futures contract closed 0.18% higher on Wednesday at $11.32 per bushel, while the CBOT July soybean oil futures contract settled 1.89% lower at 71.54 cents per pound.

The Nymex July ethanol futures contract settled 1.61% lower on Tuesday at $1.83 per gallon.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve voted to hold interest rates steady in an almost universally expected move. Outside markets were mostly supportive, with higher energy markets, though crude fell well off daily highs.

Rhett Montgomery, a DTN analyst, said that the soybean market has strung together three straight higher sessions, though traders remain cautious, as bullish momentum was kept in check on Wednesday by lower soybean oil futures.

On Wednesday morning, the US Department of Agriculture announced a flash sale of soybeans totaling 13.7 million bushels to unknown buyers, 11.5 mb of which is for the new crop 2026-27 shipment, Montgomery said.

"The million-dollar question, of course, is whether China is behind the business. Either way, the sales will help bolster the new crop book, which had been at a 23-year low for early June as of the most recent export sales report," Montgomery said in a daily note.

"Soybean oil has specifically faced profit-taking driven by weakness in outside energy markets, with the July contract lower in four of the past five sessions and at its lowest closing price since late April on Wednesday," he added.

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