Soybeans rise on hopes for de-escalation in US-China trade tensions

CANBERRA: Chicago soybean futures rose for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday amid hopes that Washington and Beijing will de-escalate their trade war and allow the revival of US soy exports to China.

Corn futures steadied after falling on Wednesday under pressure from a stronger US dollar, while wheat continued to slip as rain in the US and Black Sea cropping regions improved the supply outlook.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.4% at $10.54-1/4 a bushel at 0516 GMT and near Wednesday’s intraday peak of $10.57-1/2, its highest level since February 24. China is by far the world’s biggest soybean importer and has imposed counter-tariffs on the United States that make it prohibitively expensive to import US soybeans. Trump and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week suggested they would welcome de-escalation, with Bessent saying high tariffs were not sustainable. Speculators have responded to the change in tone by buying soybeans, traders say.

said last week that China-built ships collecting US bulk crops would be exempt from its new port fees, removing a threat to farm exports.

“The market is riding a wave of thinking that Trump’s tariff rhetoric was a bluff and now he’ll negotiate with everyone,” said Rabobank analyst Vitor Pistoia. Potentially adding to hopes of a deal between Washington and Beijing that would include soybeans is a gradual drawdown in soybean stocks in Chinese ports, said Commonwealth Bank analyst Dennis Voznesenski. Elsewhere, drier conditions in Argentina’s main farm regions should help speed up the delayed 2024/25 soybean harvest, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said.

In other crops, CBOT corn rose 0.2% to $4.80 a bushel and wheat fell 0.3% to $5.42 a bushel. The US dollar index was down 0.2% after strengthening for two consecutive days, though it remains near three-year lows reached after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on dozens of countries. Commodity Weather Group said showers in the US Plains would benefit winter wheat in the coming day.