Cash trading was very quiet to start the week, with many sources travelling to Chicago for the Jacobsen Biofuels and Feedstock Conference. Vegetable oil futures markets were slightly mixed on Monday, with signs of increasing production in Malaysia, expectations for continued rapid planting progress in the Midwest and lower-than-expected monthly soybean crush levels offering pressure.

The National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) reported at midday the U.S. soybean crush was 173.2 million bushels in April. The figure was down 6.7 percent from March and came in below the average the market expectation of 174 million bushels. Still, the April crush figure was up two percent on the year and was a record high for the month. U.S. soybean oil stocks, meantime, totaled 1.957 billion pounds in April, up from 1.851 billion at the end of March and above market estimates for a total of 1.8 million pounds.

Figure 1