The market will be closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day, with a hard open at 8:30 am CST on Friday.

CFTC data was delayed due to the government shutdown and last week’s holiday. According to the Commitment of Traders report, managed money held a net long position of 110,403 contracts, down 37,375 contracts from the previous week.

USDA released its weekly update this morning for the week ending December 18, showing soybean sales of 1.056 MMT. This fell short of trade expectations of 1.4–2.4 MMT. Sales were down 55.94% from the previous week but were 7.9% higher than the same week last year. Known sales to China through December 18 (excluding sales to unknown destinations), including recent flash sales, now total 6.5 MMT. For reference, during the 2018/19 marketing year (the previous trade war), sales by the same week were just 3.5 MMT.

Soymeal sales were reported at 299,131 MT, at the lower end of estimates ranging from 200,000 to 500,000 MT. Soy oil sales totaled 49,197 MT for 2025/26, exceeding estimates of 0–24,000 MT, while net reductions of 23,500 MT were reported for 2026/27.