BEIJING: Chicago soybean futures dropped on Thursday, shedding gains from the previous session, as abundant supplies from freshly harvest crops in the US and South America weighed on prices.
Soybeans set for first weekly gain in a month on booming US exports
Corn and wheat futures also edged lower.
Fundamentals
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.18% at $9.89-4/8 a bushel, as of 0032 GMT, corn fell 0.43% to $4.09-6/8 a bushel and wheat eased 0.92% to $5.68 a bushel.
Brazil’s soy planted area was seen rising 1.5% in the 2024/25 crop from the previous cycle to reach 47 million hectares, Rabobank said on Wednesday.
The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) raised its forecast for Argentina’s 2024/2025 soybean production to 52 million metric tons on 17.2 million hectares (MHA) harvested, as producers shifted to more soy from corn over fears of the impact of corn stunt, continued low prices, and expected dry conditions.
The USDA said earlier this week that the US soybean harvest was 89% complete, ahead of the five-year average of 78%, though slightly below analysts’ expectations of 91%, with a record-large 2024 crop.
The USDA confirmed private sales of 132,000 metric tons of US soybeans to China, another 132,000 tons of US soybeans to unknown destinations and 273,048 tons of US corn to unknown destinations for shipment in the 2024/25 marketing year.
China is willing to cooperate more closely with Russia in the soybean industry, its agriculture ministry quoted an official as saying on Wednesday, without giving any details.
A 24-hour strike by transportation unions in Argentina is blocking ships from docking or departing from the grains ports in Rosario, a major ports chamber announced on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s new system of minimum export prices for the country’s key grain and oilseed shipments is likely to be operational at the beginning of December, Ukrainian agriculture minister Vitaliy Koval said on Wednesday.
Commodity funds were net buyers of Chicago Board of Trade soybeans, soyoil and wheat futures contracts on Wednesday, traders said.