CANBERRA: Chicago soybean futures edged lower on Friday as a two-day rally lost steam, but were still set to end the week up nearly 1% after US President Donald Trump raised hopes that China might start buying US beans again.
Wheat futures also slipped, and corn was unchanged, with both headed for their third consecutive weekly loss, albeit a very small one for corn.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.2% at $10.21-3/4 a bushel at 0441 GMT, but up 0.8% for the week.
Prices are far below the highs of recent years due to large US and South American supply and have been stuck around $10 since August last year.
Trump said on Wednesday that soybeans would be a major topic of discussion when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in four weeks.
Chinese importers have not yet bought soybeans from the autumn US harvest, costing US farmers billions of dollars in lost sales amid a trade war between the two nations.
Since Trump’s comment, funds have been significant net buyers not only of CBOT soybeans, but also of corn and wheat, traders say.
However, with the meeting still weeks away and a US government shutdown delaying the release of supply and demand data, “the bearish tone will remain in place,” said Rabobank analyst Vitor Pistoia.
A lack of rain in Brazil during soybean planting may lower the potential for the crop, but the reality of plentiful global supply will remain, he said. Elsewhere, CBOT corn was unchanged at $4.21-3/4 a bushel and 0.1% lower over the week.
Wheat fell 0.1% to $5.14-1/4 a bushel and was down 1.1% from last Friday’s close. Both contracts are also far below the highs reached in 2022, with the markets well supplied.
Argentina’s 2025/26 wheat yields are nearing historic highs thanks to abundant soil moisture, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said.
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