Biofuels feedstock futures closed in divergent fashion on Thursday, with a slow trading day that saw soybean oil leak lower, correcting from recent gains, while soybeans traded little changed in two-sided trade.
The Chicago Board of Trade November soybean futures contract closed 0.24% higher on Friday at $12.39 1/2 per bushel, with the CBOT September soybean oil futures contract settled 2.57% lower at 69.35 cents per pound.
The Nymex October ethanol futures contract settled 1.72% higher on Thursday at $2.07 per gallon.
Dana Mantini, a DTN analyst, said new-crop soybean sales of nearly 53 million bushels split between China and unknown destinations had little impact on Friday's trade.
"Soybeans traded both sides of unchanged Friday in quiet trade before firming. Bean oil futures took a big hit to the downside, pulling beans in that direction while soymeal finished with a modest gain," Montgomery said.
On Friday, 712,000 metric tons, or 26.2 million bushels, were sold to China, while an additional 720,000 mt, or 26.5 mb, were sold to an unknown buyer. Prior to Friday, new-crop US soybean sales totaled 436 million bushels, a 4-year high.
As traders await crop tour results, the consensus is that the final yield could fall below the August US Department of Agriculture number of 52.7 bushels per acre, Mantini said.
"Any one bushel per acre loss in yield would result in a drop of 90 mb of soy supply. That would make an already-snug ending-stocks number of 320 mb even tighter," Mantini said.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday informed the biofuels industry that it intends to issue all pending 2025 Small Refinery Exemption decisions by the end of August and plans to extend the Renewable Fuel Standard 2025 compliance deadline for all obligated parties from its current date, Sept. 1, 2026.