Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) May soybeans settled the day down 15 cents, closing at $8.62 a bushel.
In mid-day trading, CBOT May soybeans dropped as low as $8.60-3/4 per bushel, the contract's lowest since Sept. 19, 2018. Soybeans led the way down as traders considered bearish fundamentals.
African swine fever, which is fatal to pigs but harmless in humans, has spread to every province on the Chinese mainland since its initial detection in August 2018, raising concern about a drop in Chinese demand for feedstuffs including soy and corn.
Wilmar International reported its Q1 2019, crush margins will be adversely impacted by a sharp decline in meal demand due to the spread of African swine fever in China.
The US Department of Agriculture has projected that US soybean stocks at the end of the 2018/19 marketing year will reach 895 million bushels, more than double the previous year.