Chicago | Reuters – Chicago corn and soybeans slipped in choppy trading on Tuesday as tensions between Washington and Europe over Greenland unsettled investors and ample global supply hung over grain markets.
A drop in the dollar and signs of brisk international demand, however, lent some support to Chicago prices as trading resumed after a three-day U.S. holiday weekend.
The most-active soybean contract Sv1 on the Chicago Board of Trade settled down 4-3/4 cents at $10.53 a bushel.
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CBOT wheat Wv1 fell 7-3/4 cents to end at $5.10-1/4 a bushel, and CBOT corn Cv1 dipped 1 cent to finish at $4.23-3/4 a bushel.
Shares slid along with the dollar as investors fretted over a standoff between U.S. President Donald Trump and European allies that Trump has threatened with tariffs if they oppose his aim to take control of Greenland.
Weakness in outside markets spilled into grains, but support came from a falling dollar, which tends to make U.S. exports cheaper and more competitive globally.
“The world economy kind of rejects Trump’s notion of wanting to purchase Greenland and now his proposed incremental or escalating tariffs for those countries who oppose that,” said Mark Soderberg, senior agricultural market analyst at ADM Investor Services.
Expectations for a record Brazilian soybean harvest and ample global cereal supplies also curbed prices, tempering reaction to Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans and demand from wheat importers.
China has bought about 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans since a bilateral trade truce in late October, fulfilling a commitment cited by U.S. officials, according to traders.
But traders expect Chinese importers to revert to buying mainly South American soybeans as Brazil’s harvest gets going.
“That demand will now all shift to South American origin moving forward,” said Soderberg.
Strong domestic demand for U.S. soybeans, as processors respond to expanding biofuel production requiring soyoil, helped underpin U.S. prices.
The wheat market was assessing purchases this week by Saudi Arabia and Algeria. While absorbing a chunk of global supply, prices suggested stiff competition between export zones.
-Additional reporting by Daphne Zhang in Bejing, Peter Hobson in Canberra and Gus Trompiz in Paris
