CHICAGO: Chicago soybean futures fell on Monday as traders awaited updates on possible U.S.-China trade talks amid mounting competition from Brazil, traders said.
Corn also fell on expectations that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will report speedy planting progress in its weekly crop progress report later on Monday, while wheat futures followed corn futures downward.
Chicago Board of Trade most-active soybeans were last down 7 cents to $10.51 a bushel as of 1545 GMT. Wheat fell 6 cents to $5.37 a bushel, and corn fell 8-1/4 cents to $4.60-3/4 a bushel.
China is evaluating an offer from Washington to hold talks over U.S. tariffs, China’s Commerce Ministry said on Friday, though traders reacted with caution.
“Everyone is taking a ‘show me’ type attitude toward these trade deals. We’ve heard a lot of talk but not a lot of action,” Jim Gerlach, president of A/C Trading, said. “It’s a boy-who-cried-wolf type of syndrome.”
Lack of demand from China, the world’s largest soy importer, has weighed on Chicago soy futures since the beginning of the trade war.
Wheat down 3-4 cents, corn down 2-4, soy down 2-8
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to Environmental Protection Agency funding have also rattled traders, who worry the proposed funding decrease will reduce demand for biofuels produced with soy and other vegetable oils.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will on Monday publish weekly updates on U.S. planting progress and crop conditions.
Favorable planting weather in the U.S. Midwest is expected to allow farmers to seed a large portion of their corn crop,which the USDA says will be the highest in 12 years.
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