-- Biofuels feedstock futures closed sharply lower on Wednesday, as a rumor that the US and Iran were near a peace agreement pressured broad markets.
The Chicago Board of Trade July soybean futures contract closed 1.38% lower at $11.94 per bushel, while the CBOT July soybean oil futures contract settled 2.46% lower at 75.02 cents per pound.
On Tuesday, the June ethanol futures contract on the Nymex ended 0.98% lower at $2.03 per gallon.
US President Donald Trump warned of higher intensity bombings if Iran does not agree to a deal. He said the US is also pausing efforts to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Broadly, US officials played down Iran's strikes on US warships.
Rhett Montgomery, DTN analyst, said the soybean market fell for a second straight session.
"Soybean prices were primarily pressured by a sharply lower soybean oil market (by way of lower energy futures), albeit the first lower session for that market in ten sessions," Montgomery said in a daily note.
"Now with the President Trump visit to China appearing to be on schedule to occur regardless, rumors of de-escalation have become bearish given the weight on energy futures and soybean oil's sensitivity to those markets, particularly diesel," Montgomery said.
On Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration reported that for the week ending May 1, US ethanol production averaged 1.02 million barrels per day, above 1 mmb/d last week and unchanged from 1.02 mmb/d a year ago.
Domestic ethanol inventories ended the week at 26 million barrels, above 25.9 mmbbls a week ago, and 25.2 mmbbls a year ago.