SINGAPORE: Chicago soybeans rose for the first time in three sessions on Thursday, as bargain-buying supported the market, which has been under pressure from favourable US crop conditions and slow demand. Corn and wheat futures edged higher.
Soybeans fall on improved US crop conditions
Fundamentals
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.2% at $10.20-1/4 a bushel, as of 0025 GMT. Corn edged 0.1% higher to $4.01 a bushel and wheat inched up 0.1% to 5.38-3/4 a bushel.
The soybean market has faced headwinds amid favourable growing conditions in the Midwest at a time when China has reduced its purchases from the United States.
China’s soybean imports rose 2.9% in July from a year earlier, spurred by lower prices and fears of heightened trade tensions between Beijing and the US if Donald Trump returns as president.
The country has bought larger volumes from Brazil and it is now facing an oversupply of beans amid subdued animal feed demand.
A labour strike launched by oilseed industry unions in Argentina, a major soyoil and soymeal exporter, has halted shipments from ports that host processing plants.
Cooler-than-expected temperatures in Argentina next week could trigger frosts and damage crops, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Wednesday.
Chicago wheat edged lower on Wednesday as US export demand showed signs of easing, though uncertainty about the size and quality of the global crop helped keep a floor under prices.
This year’s soft wheat crop in France, the European Union’s biggest producer, is expected to shrink to its lowest level in 41 years at 25.17 million metric tons after heavy rain slashed both the crop area and yields, Argus Media said on Tuesday.
Market participants also said they were closely following news from Egypt’s state grains buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities, which announced a massive international tender for 3.8 million metric tons, the largest on record. Egypt typically imports most of its grain from Russia, which made up nearly 70% of all its wheat imports in 2023.
Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT corn, wheat, soybean and soymeal futures contracts on Wednesday, traders said. Funds were net buyers of CBOT soyoil futures, they said.