Oil sunflower prices continue to move higher

2018 new crop prices for oil sunflower continue to move higher adding another 5 to 10 cents per hundredweight a week ago. Some locations have seen an increase of up to 60 cents in the past two weeks. New crop prices are in a range of $17.35 to $18.40 for NuSun with High Oleics at $17.85 to $18.60 at the crush plants. Crush plants are offering cash and Act of God contracts for fall delivery. Old crop prices were also up 5 to 30 cents a week ago. USDA released its latest Supply & Demand report recently. Traders considered the report bearish for soybean with the U.S. ending stocks coming in at 555 million bushels versus the average estimate of 529 million and compared to 530 million bushels last month. The USDA cut exports by 35 million bushels in this report and have slashed exports by 185 million bushels over the last four reports. Traders remain concerned over the potential for soybeans to be singled out for retaliation by China over new tariffs on steel and aluminum authorized by President Trump. China imports about 33 percent of the U.S. soybean production each year. Some traders feel the large U.S. soybean supply, slower demand and U.S. farmers adding soybean acres in 2018 could pressure new crop soybean prices. This week reaction to potential U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs by affected countries and South American weather will be the main market movers.