Soybeans headed lower on Thursday, with contracts down 7 ¼ to 20 cents across the board, as the 2024 contracts held up at or above $12. Soymeal futures were down on the day, as contracts fell $1.70 to 6.80/ton. Soy Oil saw triple digit losses in the front months, with contracts down 60 to 115 points across the board.

Weekly Export Sales data saw old crop bookings at 428,898 MY during the week that ended on May 2, a 4-week high. Unknown destinations was the buyer of 168,800 MT, with Egypt purchasing 70,800 MT. New crop sales were just 4,580 MT. Soy meal bookings were tallied at 209,266 MT for 23/24 and 19,209 MT for 24/25. Bean oil sales were seen at 11,581 MT, for the current MY, with 4,582 MT for next year.

Traders expect WASDE data on Friday to leave 23/24 soybean carryout at 341 mbu, up 1 mbu from April. New crop numbers are expected to see a build to that, with an ending stocks total at 439 mbu and production at 4.449 bbu. For the World totals, old crop stocks at 112.8 MMT, a 1.4 MMT drop. New crop is seen as building to 119.3 MMT for the carryout total.

Chinese Soybean imports totaled 8.57 MMT in April, a 54.7% increase from the March tally and 18% larger than last year.

May 24 Soybeans  closed at $11.92 3/4, down 20 cents,

Nearby Cash  was $11.47 1/2, down 19 1/2 cents,

Jul 24 Soybeans  closed at $12.08 1/2, down 19 1/4 cents,

Nov 24 Soybeans  closed at $12.00 1/2, down 12 1/2 cents,

New Crop Cash  was $11.43, down 12 1/2 cents,