Falling demand from China puts pressure on prices for soybeans
soybean Futures in Chicago fell to of 331.5 $/t after the announcement of the postponement of the meeting of presidents of the United States and China, where it was planned to sign a trade agreement, April, may and June.
More pressure on prices, the slow pace of soybean exports. The U.S. last week exported only 841,8 thousand tons of soybeans, which is 68.2% less than the corresponding indicator 2018.
Worried about the market and the uncertainty of sowing areas under soybean in the United States. Therefore, the funds increased short positions by 40 thousand to 90,1 thousand contracts.
In February, the U.S. processed record for that period of 154.5 million bushels of soybeans, 0.2 to 9.5 million bushels less than projected. In comparison with January processing volumes decreased by 10% due to the short month and a seasonal decline in the production.
According to Agrural, Brazil's soybean collected from 63% of the area, which is 5% higher than last year. But prices for soybeans remain unchanged.
In Ukraine due to increased export demand, prices for soybeans recover after a long fall. Exporters raised prices at the port for 2-5 $/t to 315-320 $/t, while processors lowered the purchase price to 9300-9500 UAH/MT for soybeans with GMOs and 9500-9600 UAH/t for soybeans non-GMO. The rise of the dollar was not supported by the UAH purchase prices, since the volume of soybean is increasing, and the demand for products is low.
Analysts of APK-inform " has increased its forecast of soybean processing in Ukraine in 2018/19 MG to a record 1.67 million tonnes, which is 30% higher than the previous season.
In January 2019, the volume of soybean increased in comparison with the previous month by 23% to a historic monthly high of 153 thousand tons, which is 29% higher than January 2018, during September-January of the 2018/19 season Ukraine processed 620 thousand tons of soybeans, which is 18% higher than the previous season. Now the updated forecast of processing already performed in 37%.
