Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean futures dropped during choppy trading on Tuesday as farmers sold some old-crop supplies ahead of U.S. Department of Agriculture reports, analysts said.
CBOT May soybeans (SK24) settled 10-1/4 cents lower at $11.99 per bushel.
CBOT May soymeal (SMK24) settled $1.90 lower at $339.80 per short ton and CBOT May soyoil (BOK24) fell 0.6 cent to finish at 48.42 cents per pound.
Traders were adjusting positions before the USDA is slated to issue U.S. prospective plantings and grain stocks data on Thursday.
Short-covering in soybeans on Monday prompted farmer selling on Tuesday, as farmers offloaded old-crop supplies and sought to reduce risk ahead of Thursday’s reports and the upcoming spring planting season, analysts said.
Analysts expect the USDA, in its quarterly grain stocks data, will report March 1 U.S. soybean supplies rose to 1.828 billion bushels from 1.687 billion a year earlier.
Stiff competition for U.S. export sales from Brazil and concerns about demand from top-importer China still hang over the market.
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