Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. soybean futures firmed for the fifth time in six sessions on Friday on solid weekly export sales data and short-covering ahead of the weekend as the market waited for signs that China may soon resume purchases from the United States.
Corn also advanced and wheat climbed to a 5-1/2 week high on stronger-than-expected export sales, with additional support stemming from a weakening U.S. dollar.
Grain markets, overall, remain underpinned by hopes that China will soon make large purchases of U.S. agricultural goods following a trade truce between Washington and Beijing last weekend. Expectations for large-scale buying, which the White House said China agreed to, has limited selling interest for much of this week.
Read Also
Alberta crop conditions improve: report
Varied precipitation and warm temperatures were generally beneficial for crop development across Alberta during the week ended July 8, according to the latest provincial crop report released July 11.
Weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture export sales data released on Friday showed sales last week of corn, soybeans and wheat near the high end of trade estimates or above expectations.
The agency also confirmed 224,000 tonnes in additional U.S. wheat sales to undisclosed buyers via USDA’s daily export sales reporting system.
“There is some short-covering ahead of the weekend and we had some good export sales for all the crops this morning. Wheat was amplified by another announcement by USDA,” said Brian Basting, analyst with Advance Trading.
Chicago Board of Trade January soybeans rose 7-1/4 cents to $9.16-3/4 a bushel for a weekly advance of 2.5 per cent, the contract’s steepest weekly gain in six weeks (all figures US$).
CBOT March wheat added 15-3/4 cents to $5.31-1/4 a bushel, touching its highest point since Oct. 29. The contract was up three per cent on the week, its largest rally in four months.
CBOT March corn was up 2-3/4 cents at $3.85-1/2 a bushel, notching a second straight weekly gain of around 2.1 per cent.
Traders continue to monitor news about the arrest of smartphone maker Huawei Technologies’ chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, which some fear could harm relations between the U.S. and China.
She was to appear in a Vancouver court on Friday for a bail hearing as she awaits possible extradition to the U.S.
Large production in South America could also help to limit any U.S. sales to China.
Argentina’ Rosario Grains Exchange said this week that soybean exports to China could jump to a record 14 million tonnes this season if the trade war between continues.
— Karl Plume reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago; additional reporting by Nigel Hunt in London and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
