US soyabean futures touched a three-week high on Friday after Washington and Beijing announced a "phase one" trade deal, but the market pared gains as traders awaited details about Chinese agricultural purchases.
Chinese officials offered no specifics on the amount of US agricultural goods Beijing had agreed to buy, a key sticking point in recent deal negotiations to end the 17-month trade war between the world's two largest economies.
US corn futures rose while wheat was little changed in choppy trade. As of 12:23 pm CST (1823 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade January soyabean futures were up 9-1/2 cents at $9.07-3/4 per bushel, after reaching $9.17, the contract's highest since November 19. CBOT March corn was up 3-1/4 cents at $3.81 a bushel and March wheat was up 3/4 cent at $5.31 a bushel.
Front-month soyabeans had been trading above $10 a bushel in June 2018, before the start of the trade war. With US farmers sitting on a huge soya surplus following several bumper harvests, prices tumbled as China, which used to buy 60% of the US soya crop, turned to South American supplies instead.
Soyabean futures have since pared losses, supported by poor US weather that limited the size of the 2019 crop.
The United States has been pushing for China to commit to buy $50 billion in agricultural products in 2020, after US President Donald Trump said during an October 11 press conference that the two countries had agreed to a "phase one" trade deal that included a "purchase of from $40 (billion) to $50 billion worth of agricultural products."
China bought $24 billion in US farm products in 2017, according to US Department of Agriculture figures.
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