CANBERRA: Chicago soybean futures fell on Wednesday as US farmers took profits after prices climbed in the previous session to their highest level since July 2024, fuelled by optimism that China may resume purchases of US soybeans.
Corn futures also slipped, while wheat edged higher. Both contracts had tracked soybeans upward in recent sessions. The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.5percent at USD10.90 a bushel, as of 0256 GMT, after rising as high as USD11.08 on Tuesday. CBOT corn fell 0.2percent to USD4.31-1/4 a bushel after rising to USD4.36-1/4 on Tuesday, its highest point since early July. Wheat rose 0.2percent to USD5.30 a bushel after reaching USD5.35 on Tuesday, its highest since mid-September.
All three contracts have been under pressure in recent months from ample global supply and the refusal by China, the world’s biggest soybean importer, to buy from the United States.
US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to meet in South Korea on Thursday. Trump said on Monday that a trade deal should be agreed and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China would make “substantial” soybean purchases under the proposed framework.
Analysts said farmers were selling soybeans and corn to lock in the higher prices, which would likely fall again if no deal or a smaller than expected deal is done. China may need between 5 million and 10 million metric tons of soybeans to fill a supply gap before it begins to receive new-crop Brazilian beans next year, said StoneX analyst Arlan Suderman.
If this quantity were bought from the United States, “that would certainly help the US balance sheet, but it wouldn’t be enough to justify rationing demand with higher prices,” he wrote in a note to clients.
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