Farmers in the country have sown soybean on 7.98 mln ha as of Thursday, down 11% on year, according to farm ministry data.

Cultivators sowed soybean on 2.78 mln ha in the week due to monsoon rains in key growing regions in central India.

The on-year lag in soybean sowing persists, primarily due to delayed onset of monsoon in leading growers Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Soybean acreage is lagging 17.3% on year in Maharashtra and 8.1% in Madhya Pradesh.

Soybean futures closed with most nearby contracts 13 to 13 1/2 cents lower. August soybean meal was down $2.80/ton, with soy oil 37 points lower. Cooler forecasts and rains from this weekend along with no news about Chinese purchases caused some selling pressure.

This afternoon’s NASS report indicated that 40% of the US soybean crop was blooming as od 7/21 (66% avg), with 7% setting pods (28% avg). As expected, conditions were unch at 54% gd/ex and 347 on the Brugler 500index.

USDA reported 559,462 MT of soybeans inspected for export during the week that ended on July 18. That was 34.6% below the week prior and down 23.17% from this week in 2018. Of that total, 317,456 MT was headed to China.