Soybean meal is a by-product which arises at the oil-extraction from soybeans.
Soybean meal is the dominant protein supplement used in U.S. livestock and poultry feeds. Technical uses include adhesives, cleansing materials, polyesters, and other textiles. But soybeans have many other uses, too. 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.
The price development from soybean meal is less dependent on the soybean itself, but rather from the demand for soya oil, because soybean meal automatically arises as by-product at the oil-extraction.
Soybean meal is traded at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), whereby the contract is quoted in U.S. Cent per short ton (tn.sh.) and comprises 100 short tons of soybean meal. (1 tn.sh. = 20 sh.ctw. = 2,000 lb = 907.18474 kg)
Most important stock exchange centers: CBOT
Ticker symbol: on the pit (“open outcry”) SM, at e-commerce (a/c/e): ZM
Tick-size: 10 U.S. Cent per short ton, 10 US$ per contract.
Contract-cycles: January, March, May, July – October, December.
Contract-size: 100 short tons of soybean meal.
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.
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