US soyabean futures prices sank to their lowest in more than 10 years for the second consecutive session on Friday as US President Donald Trump said he was in no hurry to sign a deal to end the trade war with Beijing, a dispute that has slashed American shipments of the oilseed to China. Wheat futures dropped to their lowest price since January 2018 at the Chicago Board of Trade, and corn futures also weakened.
Trump's statement fueled concerns that the US-China trade war will drag on, limiting US soyabean exports. China is expected to retaliate against the United States for increasing its tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25% from 10% early on Friday. US farmers had been hoping both sides would reach a deal that would accelerate commodity purchases by China and help reduce large stockpiles of American soya.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday forecast bigger-than-expected domestic supplies of soyabeans, corn and wheat, further pressuring the markets. The USDA is not factoring a resolution to the trade war into its projections, said Dan Cekander, president of DC Analysis.
The most-active soyabean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 2-1/2 cents at $8.10-1/4 a bushel by 12:40 p.m. CDT (1740 GMT). The contract earlier fell to $8.06-1/4, a level not seen since December 2008. CBOT wheat was down 5-1/2 cents at $4.24, while corn slipped 3-1/2 cents to $3.49-3/4 a bushel.
The USDA pegged US corn ending stocks for the 2019-20 crop year at 2.485 billion bushels, which would be the most since 1987-88. It estimated corn production at 15.030 billion bushels, the second biggest ever.
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