SINGAPORE: Chicago soybean futures lost more ground on Monday, while corn prices fell as trade tensions between the United States and its key trading partners, including China, weighed on the market. Wheat rose on bargain-buying.
“The sentiment is agricultural markets is pretty bearish with US-China trade tensions,” said one trader in Singapore. The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 0.2% to $10.23-1/2 a bushel as of 0349, while corn lost 0.2% to $4.68 -1/4 a bushel.
Wheat gained 0.8% at $5.55-3/4 a bushel. The ongoing saga with US tariffs is taking centre stage in agricultural markets. US President Donald Trump on Friday railed against what he called tremendously high Canadian tariffs on dairy and lumber, and said his administration could soon impose reciprocal tariffs on Canadian products. A day earlier, Trump had suspended the tariffs he imposed on most goods from Canada and Mexico. Mexico was the largest buyer of American corn and wheat in 2024 and the No. 2 destination for US soybeans after China.
The US is still in a trade war with top global soybean buyer China. China bought 13.61 million metric tons of soybeans in January and February, up 4.4% from a year earlier, according to customs data issued on Friday. As a result of the trade war, the premium paid for soybeans in Brazil in relation to futures contracts on the CBOT rose 70% last week.
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