Chicago soybeans lower as Trump-Xi meeting delay dampens Chinese demand hopes

BEIJING: Chicago soybean futures fell on Wednesday as a delay in a meeting between U.S President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping dampened hopes for continued Chinese demand for US soybeans. The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 0.6percent to USD11.50 a bushel by 0400 GMT. CBOT wheat dropped 0.3percent to USD5.87-3/4 a bushel. Corn fell 0.2 at USD4.53-1/4 a bushel.

Trump on Tuesday said he was postponing a highly anticipated trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the war with Iran upends US foreign policy and delays an effort to ease tensions between the world’s two biggest economies. The US president had been set to travel to Beijing from March 31-April 2 for his first trip there since the start of his 14-month-old second term. The trip will now take place in about five or six weeks, Trump said.

“The delay tempers market expectations of continued Chinese buying of US soybeans,” said a Shanghai-based analyst who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Trump told the Financial Times in an interview on Sunday that he could delay his summit with Xi as he presses Beijing to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz. Soybeans fell by their 70-cent daily trading limit on Monday following the news. In South America, Brazil, the world’s largest soybean producer and exporter,the government will negotiate soybean inspection and safety requirements for shipments of the crop to China, following complaints from Beijing.