Soybean futures fell hard on biofuel concerns on Thursday, dropping from near 10-month highs reached a day earlier. Corn ended mixed, while wheat was higher.
The weakness in soybeans extended to soybean oil, with that market seeing limit losses. The declines were linked to rumours the Environment Protection Agency submitted the biomass diesel renewable volume obligation – the volume of renewable fuels that must be used in the U.S. fuel supply – for government review at 4.65 billion gallons. If true, it is well below the previous expected 5.25 billion gallons that was proposed by an alliance of biofuel and oil producers. The USDA’s weekly export sales report this morning also showed bookings of US old-crop beans for the week ended May at 282,427 tonnes, on the lower end of trade ideas. On the other hand, the NOPA April soybean crush came out today at 190.2 million bu, compared to the average guess of 184.6 million, and versus 194.6 million crushed in March. July beans fell 26 ½ cents to $10.51 ¼, and November was down 26 cents at $10.35 ¼.
Corn drew support from strong export demand. Export sales data from this morning showed US corn bookings for the week ended May 8 at 1.67 million tonnes, exceeding the high end of trade expectations. Good Midwest planting progress and weather conditions weighed on new-crop December. July added 3 cents to $4.48 ½, and December was down 1 ¾ cents at $4.38 ¾.
Weekly export sales of 746,155 tonnes for the 2025-26 marketing year – topping trade ideas – boosted wheat futures. Good yield potential in Kansas limited the upside. A wheat tour estimated the state yield at 53 bu, the highest since 2021. July Chicago wheat was up 8 cents at $5.32 ¾, July Kansas City gained 5 ¼ cents to $5.28 ¼, and July Minneapolis was 3 cents higher at $5.80.
