Growing US-China trade tensions once again slammed the commodities market on Monday, with Chicago Board of Trade soyabean prices dipping to levels not seen since 2016. CBOT July soyabeans bounced slightly up from midday lows, ending Monday up 3 cents at $9.08-1/2 a bushel.
Earlier in the day, the July contract fell to $8.97-1/4, the lowest spot price on a continuous chart since March 2016. The Dow and the S&P 500 also fell after China's retaliatory action against US tariffs rekindled concerns that the world's two biggest economies were headed toward a trade war, with losses limited by gains in energy shares.
US President Donald Trump said last week he was pushing ahead with hefty tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese imports, prompting a swift response from Beijing, which said it would slap duties on several American commodities, including soyabeans.
While a lot of investors have been worried about trade issues, the wet weather and warming temperatures also have them fretting: Much of the US soyabean growing acres are off to a tremendous start, one trader said.
"At this point, we're expecting pod emergence to be coming earlier this year, because of the heat - which means as long as the weather stays friendly, we won't have a long, drawn-out harvest," the trader said. Condition ratings for both corn and soyabean US crops are at historically high levels for this time of year.