**Soybean Futures and Trade Update**
Soybean futures are experiencing modest gains, with new crop November trading up 12.5 cents on Tuesday morning, following a substantial downturn of 60 to 70 cents on Monday. Open interest fell by 21,862 contracts, predominantly in May. The current national average cash price for soybeans is $10.80, down 70.5 cents. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent met with Chinese officials in Paris to discuss agricultural trade, revealing a potential increase in China’s purchases of non-soybean row crops.
In export data, the USDA reported soybean shipments at 966,082 MT for the week ending March 12, marking an 8.9% increase from the previous week and a 45.4% rise compared to the same week last year. China received the largest share, with 545,858 MT. Additionally, Brazil’s soybean harvest is reported to be 61% complete, lagging behind last year’s pace of 70%. NOPA reported a February record for soybean crush at 208.785 million bushels, up 10.57% from the previous year.
