U.S. soybean oil prices were down sharply on Thursday, as funds continued to liquidate long positions. Forecasts for rain in the Midwest Corn Belt next week and strength in the U.S. dollar due, in part, to the U.S. Federal Reserve announcing on Wednesday that it raised interest rates to the highest level in 22 years, all weighed on the markets. 

Reports of a slowdown in refined, bleached, and deoderized (RBD) soybean oil cash market sales to renewable diesel producers for the forward curve (fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024) added downside price pressure on futures values.

In Chicago, August soybean oil closed at 68.61 cents per pound, down 166 basis points per pound, or 2.36 percent. The December soybean oil futures contract finished the day at 62.07 cents per pound, down 112 basis points per pound or 1.77 percent.

…