US soybeans extend gains as hopes build for China talks

PARIS/MANILA: Chicago soybean futures rose for a second session on Thursday as fresh export sales, slower than expected harvesting and hopes that Washington and Beijing will resume trade talks helped the oilseed market to recoup some of its recent losses.

Corn edged higher with support from soybeans while wheat rose in a bounce from a two-day drop fuelled by improved US crop conditions.

The most-traded soybean futures contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 0.9 percent at $8.91-1/2 a bushel by 1310 GMT.

US soybean exports to top buyer China have declined in recent months after Beijing raised tariffs on the most valuable US agricultural export to the country as part of the ongoing trade war between the world's biggest economies.

An expected meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Argentina in two weeks has raised hopes of a thawing in relations.

Optimism was further encouraged by news on Thursday that China has delivered a written response to US demands for wide-ranging trade reforms.

"The soybean price is rising this morning and nearing the 900 US cents per bushel mark again. It is profiting from signs of rapprochement between China and the US in the trade conflict," Commerzbank said in a market note.

Export sentiment had already been boosted by two sales of US soybeans in the past two days, as announced by the US Department of Agriculture.

The pace of the US harvest has also supported prices this week. The harvest was 88 percent complete, behind the average trade estimate of 91 percent and the five-year average of 93 percent, USDA data showed on Tuesday.

CBOT wheat was up 0.9 percent at $5.07-3/4 a bushel and corn added 0.7 percent to $3.69-1/2.

The global grain market needs more US wheat to make up for tightening supply in other leading exporting zones, trading firms told an industry conference on Wednesday.

In Europe, consultancy Strategie Grains left its monthly forecast for 2018/19 European Union soft wheat exports little changed at 19.5 million tonnes, down 1 million tonnes from last year after a weather-hit harvest.