Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean prices firmed on Friday in a bargain-buying bounce after a sharp fall on Thursday, as traders assessed prospects for more U.S. sales to China after the trade war truce between the countries.
Wheat fell on the smaller-than-hoped recent U.S. sales to China, with the focus returning to large global supplies.
Corn was little changed but faced headwinds from larger supplies as the U.S. harvest approaches completion.
Chicago Board of Trade most-active soybeans Sv1 rose 9-1/2 cents to end at $11.17 a bushel. Wheat Wv1 settled down 7-3/4 cents to $5.27-3/4 a bushel, while corn Cv1 finished down 1-1/2 cents at $4.27-1/4 a bushel.
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China resumed modest purchases of U.S. farm products, but traders awaited more significant soybean buying after the White House said Beijing pledged to buy 12 million tons of U.S. beans by the end of 2025.
Uncertainty about China
China will restore three U.S. firms’ eligibility to export soybeans to China. But details were lacking from a soybean procurement signing ceremony on Thursday.
“Now it is more uncertain,” Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities, said of the situation.
“In the meantime, Brazil beans from January on are cheaper than ours … We know China is a value buyer.”
China recently marked record-high soybean imports from South America, especially Brazil.
In wheat, Reuters reported China has booked just two U.S. cargoes, suggesting a smaller volume than speculation about several hundred thousand metric tons.
“The volume that China bought was less than the trade thought,” said Roose.
Wheat prices face headwinds from accelerating exports from Russia and competition from new harvests starting in southern hemisphere exporters Argentina and Australia.
Roose added that “the corn market is kind of caught with the tail end of the harvest, trying to find a home for some of the grain.”
— Additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
