-- Biofuels feedstock futures closed lower on Wednesday, after the soybean market traded at its highest level in a month before reversing later in the day.
The Chicago Board of Trade May soybean futures contract closed 0.85% lower at $11.64 per bushel, and the CBOT May soybean oil futures contract settled 0.64% lower at 71.68 cents per pound.
On Tuesday, the June ethanol futures contract on the Nymex ended 0.26% higher at $1.90 per gallon.
Rhett Montgomery, DTN analyst, said that the soybean market faced profit-taking midweek.
"Selling pressure intensified through the session on a combination of technical-based selling and likely bearish concerns over the rise in conflict in the Strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours," he said in a daily note.
"Additionally, fertilizer trade constraints and sharply higher farmgate costs point to a movement away from fertilizer-intensive grains and towards oilseeds," Montgomery added.
US weekly ethanol production dropped slightly, according to the US Energy Information Administration report on Wednesday.
For the week ending on April 17, US ethanol production averaged 1.04 million barrels per day, below 1.12 mmb/d last week and almost flat compared with 1.03 mmb/d a year ago. The four-week average output at 1.09 mmb/d was above 1.03 mmb/d during the same time last year.
Midwest ethanol production averaged 979,000 b/d, below 1.07 mmb/d in the previous week. The four-week average output of 1.03 mmb/d was higher than 977,000 b/d a year ago.
Domestic ethanol inventories ended the week at 26.9 million barrels, above 26.7 mmbbls a week ago, and below 25.5 mmbbls a year ago.