Soybeans are part of the legumes family. The plant derives from East Asia and is cultivated in China since nearly 5,000 years. The plant made its triumphal march into the remaining parts of the world first in the 17th and 18th century. Measured by their numbers, commodity contracts on soybeans futures take the third place behind crude oil and corn.
The soybean is an oil-bearing plant, whereby its oil content with 17 % is unusually high for beans. With the vegetable fat and the 40 % protein content soybeans are a valuable protein-supplier for men and animals.
Soybeans have a seemingly limitless range of usage. Most importantly, of course, they serve as a central ingredient in baby food, diet-food products, beer, ale, noodles, cooking oil, margarine, mayonnaise, salad dressing, shortening, etc. Lecithin is a natural emulsifier derived from soybeans. Several important low-fat sources of protein, such as tofu, miso, and soymilk also use soybeans as a major ingredient.
Soybeans are increasingly being seen as renewable resource with many industrial applications, too. For example, many publications are printed using soy ink, which is more environmentally-friendly than petrochemical-based inks. Soy diesel is a new energy source that’s capturing the attention of the trucking industry. And soybeans are also used in adhesives, cleaning material, polyesters, and other textiles.
The worldwide demand for soybeans and its products is increasing disproportionately high since years. It trend is distinctly above the other kinds of cereals (such as corn and wheat) and as well above the population development’s tendency. Responsible for the demand-boom is the plant’s usage as fodder and the growing interest for bio-fuels. The largest areas of cultivation can be found on the American continent (U.S.A., Brazil and Argentina) where 220 million tons of soybeans are harvested per year. By far the biggest exporters are the U.S.A. Importers are China and the EU, followed by Japan and Mexico.
The weather is the most important influence-factor on the supply-situation for agricultural products. Further influence-magnitudes are the genetic research and the seasonal growing- and harvesting rhythm (price-highs are mainly reached during cultivation periods (May-June), price-lows are often reached during and around the harvesting periods in fall). Other important influence-magnitudes are the increase of the population in connection to the growing prosperity (higher demand for meat means higher demand for fodder), the growing demand for bio-fuels (ethanol) and the influence from the side of the politics (keywords like: subsidies or trading restrictions). Soyrost, an aggressive fungal disease from Asia, is additionally an increasing danger for the large monocultures.
Most important trading place for soybeans is the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), whereby a mini-future (ticker-symbol: Y) is traded and additionally since 2005 also a contract on South American soybeans. The traded contracts are quoted in U.S. Cent per bushel (bu.), whereby a contract comprises 5,000 bu. (1 bu. soybeans = 60 lbs. or 27.2155 kg). Like with other commodities, soybeans are also traded on additional commodities exchange places such as in Brazil, Argentina, China and Japan.
Most important stock exchange centers: CBOT
Ticker symbol: on the pit (“open outcry”) S, at e-commerce (a/c/e): ZS
Tick-size: 0.025 U.S. Cent per bushel (bu.), 12.50 US$ per contract.
Contract-cycles: every second month, beginning with January, as well as in August.
Contract-size: 5,000 bu. soybeans.
Trading hours: Pit (“open outcry”): Monday to Friday, 9.30 a.m. – 1.15 p.m. Chicago time (CT), and e-commerce: Sunday – Friday, 6.31 p.m. – 6.00 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. – 1.15 p.m. Chicago time (CT). Trading ends at 12 a.m. CT on the last trading day.
Share/Save