Soybean futures posted 18 to 19 cent losses across the nearby contracts on Friday. That took the gain over the course of the week for November to just a nickel. Soymeal futures were down $1.90/ton in the October contracts. Soy Oil futures were the pressure factor on Friday with losses of 142 points in October.

Delayed weekly USDA Export Sales data showed net reductions of 227,961 MT in 2023/24 for the week of August 29. That was below the expected net cancellation of 200,000 MT to net sales of 200,000 MT, but normal for late in the marketing year. New crop sales were tallied at 1.66 MMT, on the higher end of the 0.8 to 2 MMT in estimates. China was the lead buyer of 1.002 MMT, with unknown in for 474,200 MT. 

Meal sales totaled 40,897 MT for the 2023/24 marketing year, with 434,708 MT sold for 2024/25 in the week of August 29. The total of 475,605 MT was the largest since the end of June. Bean oil sales totaled 1,922 MT in that week for 2023/24 shipment, with 3,298 MT for 2024/25 MT.

CFTC data released on Friday afternoon showed speculators in the soybean market covering 22,455 contracts of their large net short position as of 9/3. They took that to a net short of 154,096 contracts, the smallest since early July. Commercials were trimming their net long position by just 14,075 contracts, to 62,032 contracts by that Tuesday. There was an increase in shorts, but also implied commercial hedging, with an increased number of longs.

Sep 24 Soybeans  closed at $9.89 1/4, down 19 cents,

Nearby Cash  was $9.43 1/2, down 18 cents,

Nov 24 Soybeans  closed at $10.05, down 18 1/2 cents,

Mar 25 Soybeans  closed at $10.36 1/2, down 19 cents,

New Crop Cash  was $9.43 1/2, down 18 cents,