CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade soybeans continued a three-day rally on Friday, fuelled by President Donald Trump’s remarks on Wednesday that China would buy more US soybeans.
Corn and wheat chopped up and down, though ample global supply continued to curb grain prices while traders turned their attention to a US Department of Agriculture world crop report due Tuesday.
The most-active CBOT soybean contract settled 3 cents higher at USD11.15-1/4 a bushel. Soybeans hit a two-month high on Wednesday after Trump posted that China was hiking purchases and “lifting the soybean count to 20 million tons” for the current season.
That implied that China could buy an additional 8 million metric tons of US soybeans in 2025/26 on top of about 12 million tons already booked since a trade truce was reached in late October.
“The market is assuming that China will buy something,” said Dan Basse, president of AgResource Company, though he noted that many industry players are skeptical that Trump’s comments will prove accurate. The remarks surprised traders, who expected China to rely heavily on Brazilian soybeans in the first half of 2026.
Brazil, the world’s largest soybean producer and exporter, is expected to produce 181.6 million metric tons in 2025/26, consultancy firm StoneX said on Monday, raising its outlook for the harvest that is in progress.
Meanwhile, CBOT corn closed 4-3/4 cents lower to USD4.30-1/4 per bushel. CBOT wheat closed 5-1/2 cents lower at USD5.29-3/4 per bushel. Traders are monitoring dry weather in Argentina, though a massive US harvest last year and favorable planting conditions for Brazil’s second corn crop tempered concerns.
In wheat, traders have been monitoring severe cold in the US and in Russian production belts, but snow cover is expected to limit potential crop losses. Nearly all Russian crops were in normal condition as of Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev said.