Soybeans set for second weekly drop on China’s absence from US market

SINGAPORE: Chicago soybeans slid on Friday, with the market on track for a second weekly loss amid a lack of Chinese demand for US cargoes and seasonal pressure from the North American harvest.

Wheat and corn prices also fell on bearish sentiment in the agricultural markets.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 0.2% to $10.10-1/2 a bushel, as of 0325 GMT, with prices down 1.5% this week.

Wheat lost 0.3% to $5.25-1/2 a bushel and corn fell 0.2% to $4.24-3/4 a bushel. Both wheat and corn are set to end the week marginally higher, having dropped last week.

China’s absence from the US soybean market amid a Washington-Beijing trade war is keeping a lid on Chicago futures.

“China’s purchases of Argentinian soybeans have put further downward pressure on Chicago futures,” said one oilseed trader in Singapore. “The global soybean market is well supplied as US harvest is gaining momentum.”

Chinese buyers booked about 20 cargoes, or roughly 1.3 million metric tons, of Argentine soybeans after Buenos Aires suspended taxes. Argentina has now reimposed export taxes on grains and their by-products as it hit a target sales cap of $7 billion after suspending them on Monday.

Argentina’s declared soy exports for the 2024/25 season hit a seven-year high after a brief pause in export taxes triggered a trading frenzy, which should continue to boost the market as many exporters declared sales before buying the goods.

The advancing US corn and soy harvests have put some supply pressure on prices, though doubts over the size of corn yields have lent support to that market.

The US Department of Agriculture reported net US soybean export sales were 724,500 tons for 2025/26 in the week that ended on September 18. Analysts expected 600,000 to 1.6 million tons.

Weekly US corn export sales of 1.9 million tons topped analysts’ estimates for 1 million to 1.8 million.

Ample world supplies kept a lid on the wheat market.

Australia is on track to reap its third-biggest wheat harvest and its largest-ever barley crop this year, according to a poll of analysts, many of whom have raised their estimates in recent weeks thanks to favourable crop conditions.