Commitment of Traders data showed that as of April 28, speculators reduced their net long position in soybean futures and options by 7,602 contracts to 185,282 contracts. In soybean oil, the net long position increased by 281 contracts to a record 165,725 contracts.

USDA’s monthly Fats & Oils report indicated that March soybean crush totaled 227.36 million bushels, below the estimate of 231.1 million bushels. However, it was still 6.15% higher than February and 9.98% above the same month last year. Total crush for the marketing year has reached 1.651 billion bushels, up 8.5% from the same period last year. Soybean oil stocks were reported at 2.456 billion pounds.

The weekly Export Sales report showed total soybean export commitments at 38.776 million metric tons, down 18% from the same time last year. This accounts for 93% of USDA’s export projection and is 4 percentage points behind the 5-year average.