US soyabean futures fell to their lowest in almost two months on Thursday, weighed partly by slow progress in U.S-China trade talks, before rebounding as the dollar weakened. Chicago corn and wheat prices edged up.
Trade frictions between Washington and Beijing exerted downward pressure on the dollar and also helped to keep soyabean prices on the defensive. The most-active soyabean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade was up 0.2% to $9.06-1/2 a bushel at 1208 GMT. The contract hit its lowest since Oct. 1 at $9.03-1/4.
US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday his country would raise tariffs on Chinese imports if no deal was reached.
Completion of a "phase one" US-China trade deal could slide into next year, trade experts and people close to the White House say, as Beijing presses for more extensive tariff rollbacks, and the Trump administration counters with heightened demands of its own. A fresh row between Washington and Beijing over US bills intended to support protesters in Hong Kong and send a warning to China about human rights could complicate talks and delay the deal that investors had hoped would be inked by now.
The slow pace of US corn and soyabean harvests, however, continued to underpin both markets. CBOT's most active corn contract was up 0.3% at $3.67-3/4 a bushel, with a weaker dollar also providing some support to contracts denominated in the US currency. Wheat prices were mixed with CBOT prices rising 0.2% to $5.19-3/4 a bushel, while March wheat on Paris-based Euronext fell 0.1% to 180.75 euros a tonne.