March Soybeans finished up 6 at 914, 2 off the high and 14 up from the low. July Soybeans closed up 5 at 933 1/2. This was 13 1/2 up from the low and 1 1/2 off the high.

    March Soymeal closed up 2.3 at 271.2. This was 5.7 up from the low and 0.6 off the high.

    March Soybean Oil finished up 0.31 at 37.21, 0.23 off the high and 0.52 up from the low.

    May soybeans and meal made new lows for the move today with May meal also breaking below its October low in the process. However, soybeans and meal recovered to finish higher. Oil was mixed to higher throughout the day due to a strong export sales number in soy oil as well as positive interpretation of the EPA´s new rules for bio-diesel fuel. Traders said that the market ignored the very sharp breaks in crude oil and equities that were tied to fears over the weak job outlook in the US. The EPA announced yesterday afternoon that it was increasing the mandate for the production of bio-diesel fuels starting in 2010. In the US, bio-diesel fuel is mainly derived from soy oil. Nearly half of this week´s big soy oil export sales were to India, followed by the Dominican Republic and Morocco. Soybean and meal sales were disappointing with the soybeans sales thought to constitute the long-awaited start of China´s shift to South America. Net weekly export sales for soybeans came in at just 384,100 tonnes. Cumulative soybean sales stand at 93.4% of the USDA forecast for 2009/2010 versus a 5 year average of 74.8%. Net meal sales came in at 135,000 tonnes which pushed cumulative sales to 77.9% of the USDA forecast for the season versus a 5 year average of 51.3%. Net oil sales came in at 58,800 tonnes which pushed cumulative sales to 64.9% of the USDA forecast versus a 5 year average of 42.1%. Sales of 15,000 tonnes are needed each week to reach the USDA forecast. Hot and dry weather in Brazil is expected through the weekend and possibly to start next week. However, cooler and wetter weather may enter the region as soon as the start of next week. Rains in Argentina have been even better than expected over the past 24 hours with the top three provinces all getting rain and amounts ranging up to 2 inches. The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange raised its estimate of Argentina´s soybean crop to 52 million tonnes from 51 million last week.