Chicago Board of Trade May soybean oil futures were down 46 points to 41.42 cents/lb Thursday as weekly data from the US Department of Agriculture showed a significant decline in net export sales.
For the reporting week ended April 24, soybean oil net export sales fell 5,238 mt to 502 mt, the lowest reported level since October 17.
The top countries to which the US sold current marketing year soybean oil were Mexico at 2,094 mt, Nicaragua at 300 mt and Trinidad and Tobago at 24 mt. There were two canceled orders of 1,896 mt from Canada and 104 from Hong Kong.
Weekly physical exports for soybean oil soared 12,012 mt to 20,433 mt.
The top weekly physical soybean oil export destinations were the Dominican Republic at 8,145 mt, Mexico at 8,135 mt and Venezuela at 2,991 mt.
The current marketing year for US soybean oil began September 1 and lasts through August 31.
Net sales are considered a more appropriate indicator for the strength of the soybean oil market. The difference between weekly net export sales and weekly exports is timing, with the agricultural products first bought -- the weekly net export sales figure -- and then physically exported, which is the weekly physical export figure. Soybean oil represented roughly 48.52% of biodiesel feedstock in the US in 2013.
