US soyabean prices fell on Thursday despite stronger-than-expected export sales as investors worried that an eagerly awaited trade deal between Washington and Beijing remained elusive. Wheat and corn also fell as heavy deliveries against the March contracts weighed on the market. There were 820 deliveries against CBOT March soyabeans, 400 deliveries against the CBOT March soft red winter wheat contract and 910 deliveries against CBOT March corn futures.
Meanwhile, soyabean export sales in the week ended Feb. 21 were 2.196 million tonnes, corn sales totaled 1.360 million tones, and wheat sales totaled 537,300 tonnes. May soyabean futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade were down 5-3/4 cents at $9.11 a bushel. May corn was down 3 cents at $3.70-3/4 a bushel, its fourth straight day of losses. It earlier sank to the lowest since Sept. 20 at $3.70-1/2 a bushel.
May wheat fell 6-1/4 cents at $4.60-1/2 a bushel, dropping to a fresh contract low. It faced its fourth consecutive session of declines on technical selling and as global competition raised worries about demand for US supplies.
Investors awaited additional details on a US-China trade deal. The United States will need to maintain the threat of tariffs on Chinese goods for years even if the two countries strike a deal to end the costly tariff war, President Donald Trump's chief trade negotiator told lawmakers on Wednesday.
The comments come after US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said last Friday that China had committed to buy an additional 10 million tonnes of US soyabeans.