USDA reported a private export sale of 100,000 metric tons of soybeans to Egypt this morning.

Monday morning’s Export Inspections report showed total soybean shipments of 750,312 metric tons (27.57 million bushels) for the week ending December 25. This was down 19.3% from the previous week and 54.4% lower than the same week last year. China was the largest destination at 135,417 metric tons, followed by Egypt with 127,173 metric tons and Vietnam with 89,227 metric tons. Marketing year soybean shipments now total 15.396 million metric tons (565.71 million bushels), which is 46.3% below the same period last year.

Market pressure may have stemmed from Chinese military drills around Taiwan, which heightened political tensions between the US and China.