The Weekender

March beans rallied another 18 cents this week, extending gains to 73 cents since February 4, when Trump posted on Truth Social after a 90-minute call with President Xi suggesting China was considering additional US soybean purchases in the current marketing year.

In the days following Trump’s post, managed money’s net long in soybeans jumped from 29k to more than 123k contracts — a 94k contract swing in one week (12.8 MMT / 472 mbu).

That marked the second-largest single week of buying on record, split evenly between short covering and new longs getting in on the action. Wild to think that in the week ending Feb. 10, funds bought the equivalent of 35% more than the entire current U.S. soybean carryout.

Concerns over deteriorating weather in Argentina, a brief strike threat, and questions surrounding soybean quality in parts of Brazil added support — particularly to meal, which closed higher the last four sessions of the week, gaining nearly 4% over that stretch.