PARIS/BEIJING: Chicago soybean futures ticked down on Thursday, consolidating below a six-month peak while traders assessed weather prospects for South American crops and the impact of China halting some shipments from Brazil.
Corn was easing back from a 13-month high, with investors seeking more clues on US President Donald Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on major trading partners.
Wheat also edged lower after hitting a one-month high on Wednesday with support from severe cold in some US wheat belts.
The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.3% at $10.53-1/4 a bushel by 1204 GMT, after touching its highest level since late July in the previous session.
CBOT corn was down 0.2% at $4.83-1/2 a bushel, after hitting its highest since December 2023 a day earlier.
CBOT wheat edged down 0.5% to $5.51-1/4 a bushel.
Grain markets were supported earlier in the week by relief that Trump did not immediately impose tariffs on China, the world’s largest soybean buyer and also a major corn and wheat importer.
But the optimism was tempered when Trump on Tuesday vowed to hit the European Union with tariffs and said his administration was discussing a 10% punitive duty on Chinese imports.
“Headlines are expected to have a greater impact on the market moving forward. Comments regarding tariffs have the greatest potential to lead intraday price spikes,” Bergman Grains Research said in note.
The mood in the soybean market was also cooled on Wednesday by news that China has stopped receiving Brazilian soybean shipments from five firms after cargoes did not meet plant health requirements, though the Brazilian authorities said the volumes affected were small.
Corn and soybean prices had found support this month from drought in Argentina and cuts to US corn and soybean production.
Weather forecasts showed some rain in parched Argentine crop belts in the coming week, though high temperatures may limit the benefit to plants.
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