Soybean futures look to settle at highest since mid-May after USDA data

Soybean futures were on track Friday to settle higher for a fourth straight session, at their highest since mid-May. The U.S. Department of Agriculture left its forecasts for domestic soybean production and demand unchanged in its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report. Still, “real supply and demand is tighter than what the USDA is reporting,” said Darin Newsom, Barchart senior market analyst. “We can see that in the inverted futures spreads, strong basis (difference between cash and futures), and [the] cash market itself,” he said. Now, as the El Nino climate pattern emerges and the market sees global balance sheets improve, “markets are going to be more focused on the demand side of the equation,” said Jake Hanley, managing director and senior portfolio strategist at Teucrium. The most-active July soybean contract
SN23,
+1.65%

S00,
+1.65%
rose 21 ¾ cents, or 1.6%, to $13.85 a bushel, poised for the highest most-active contract finish since May 15, FactSet data show.