SINGAPORE: Chicago soybean futures slid on Monday for the first time in three sessions, as traders awaited updates on US-China trade relations amid sluggish American exports and mounting competition from Brazil.
Wheat rose to a one-week high, while corn fell for a third consecutive session.
“For soybeans, it is wait and watch until we see a clear picture on China-US trade relations,” said one grains and oilseed trader in Singapore.
“We are seeing some buying in the wheat market at current levels. There have been some weather issues in Russia.”
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 0.7% to $10.50-3/4 a bushel, as of 0325 GMT.
Wheat added 0.6% to $5.46-1/4 a bushel, after climbing to its highest since April 25 earlier in the session and corn fell 0.5% to $4.66-3/4 a bushel.
The soybean market was supported at the end of last week on optimism over US-China trade talks.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said the US was meeting with many countries, including China, on trade deals, and his main priority with China was to secure a fair trade deal.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had no plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, but US officials were speaking with Chinese officials about a variety of different things.
Beijing is “evaluating” an offer from Washington to hold talks over US President Donald Trump’s crippling tariffs, China’s Commerce Ministry said on Friday, signalling a potential de-escalation in the trade war that has roiled global markets.
Soybeans rise for second session, US-China trade war caps gains
The US soybean market is struggling with a lack of demand from China, the world’s No. 1 importer, and competition from Brazil, the world’s biggest supplier.
Brazil’s 2024/25 soybean crop is expected to reach 168.4 million metric tons, consultancy StoneX said on Friday, bumping up its forecast from a prior 167.5 million tons due to “robust” output in top grain-producing state Mato Grosso.
StoneX also hiked its estimate for Brazil’s second corn crop this season to 104.3 million tons from 101.6 million tons, saying that crop development in the key center-south region has been surprisingly positive.
For corn, solid export demand may prompt the US Department of Agriculture to increase its forecast for 2024-25 US corn exports and lower its outlook for ending stocks in a monthly crop report due on May 12, analysts said.
The USDA is slated to issue later in the day, its weekly updates on US corn and soybean planting progress and on condition ratings for winter wheat crops.
The agency has projected that corn plantings will climb by 5% in 2025 to their highest in 12 years.
Rains have prevented farmers from planting in parts of the Midwest last week, though. In news, the mayor of the Russian port city of Novorossiisk declared a state of emergency on Saturday after local authorities said a Ukrainian drone attack had damaged a grain terminal and several residential buildings, injuring five people.
Large speculators increased their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week to April 29, regulatory data released on Friday showed.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in CBOT wheat and cut their net long position in soybeans.
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