On Monday, President Trump announced a five-day postponement of military strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure, following “good and productive” weekend discussions. Iran’s state media countered that there had been no contact with the President. Oil prices dipped by $9.03 at midday.
In agricultural news, soybeans saw gains of 3 to 6 cents, with the cmdtyView national average cash bean price rising to $10.90 1/4 per bushel. A USDA report confirmed a private export sale of 161,120 metric tons of soybeans to Mexico. The most recent export inspections indicated shipments reaching 1.101 million metric tons for the week of March 19, marking a 12.3% increase from the previous week and 32.1% higher than the same week last year.
Brazil’s soybean harvest is currently at 68% completion, trailing behind the 80% pace set last year, as reported by AgRural. Meanwhile, speculators reduced their soybean net long position by 20,110 contracts, bringing the total to 201,997 contracts as of March 17.
