Chicago soybean futures touch seven-week low on US export concerns

CHICAGO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures touched a seven-week low on Monday amid a broad sell-off in agriculture markets, as soy traders continued to shed risk amid ongoing concerns over the pace of U.S. exports and expectations of a hefty Brazilian harvest, market analysts said.

• CBOT January soybeans SF26 settled down 5 cents at $10.71-3/4 per bushel, the lowest since October 30. During the session, the most-active contract Sv1 dipped down to $10.67, the contract's lowest since October 27.

• CBOT January soyoil BOF26 fell 0.59 cent to end at 49.48 cents per pound.

• Soymeal futures closed higher, with most-active January SMF26 settling $1.00 higher at $303.50 per short ton.

• Soybeans faced weakness as the pace of Chinese purchases of U.S. beans following the trade truce between the two nations has disappointed traders, remaining well below the 12 million metric ton purchases flagged.

• They also felt carry over pressure from data released on Friday from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which showed that managed commodity funds had built a massive net long position in CBOT soybean futures by mid-November, leaving the market prone to bouts of long liquidation, said Chuck Shelby, president of Risk Management Commodities, a division of Zaner Ag Hedge.

• On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that exporters sold 136,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans to China for delivery in the 2025/2026 marketing year.

• USDA also reported that weekly U.S. soybean export sales for the week ended November 20 were 2.3 million metric tons, compared with analysts' expectations for 800,000 to 3 million.

• Analysts remain concerned that export demand for U.S. soybeans may soon dry up as South American supplies become available in January and February.