Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures slumped on Wednesday after climbing to their highest level since June 2024 in the previous session, as traders watched to see whether a wave of Chinese purchases would continue following a trade truce between Beijing and Washington.
Corn and wheat futures also weakened.
The soybean market has ended lower for two consecutive sessions after rallying on Monday and early in Tuesday’s session, following a Reuters report that Chinese state-owned grain trader COFCO bought around 840,000 metric tons of U.S. soy for shipment in December and January.
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This was China’s largest purchase since at least January and the most significant since a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping in late October.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that China purchased 792,000 tons of American beans on Tuesday and reported sales of another 330,000 tons of U.S. soybeans to China on Wednesday. The deals had largely been factored into the market already, traders said.
Doubts about China target
Last month, Washington said China would buy 12 million tons of U.S. soybeans by year-end. Recent deals remain well below that volume, and analysts have questioned whether China will meet the deadline.
“This 12 million tons is probably not going to happen by the end of the year,” said Jim Gerlach, president of A/C Trading in Indiana.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, January soybeans SF26 ended 17-1/4 cents lower at $11.36-1/4 per bushel. The most-active contract Sv1 set a 17-month peak on Tuesday of $11.69-1/2.
Farmer selling and profit-taking by investors likely helped pressure the market, Argus analysts said in a note.
“We saw bullish momentum on Monday as China bought U.S. cargoes, but the market is a bit overbought right now,” said one Singapore-based trader.
In the wheat market, some traders recently hoped that China could turn to U.S. supplies as part of purchases of American farm goods. However, traders said the outlook for prices remained fundamentally bearish given ample global supplies.
Ukraine, a major grain exporter, will not restrict wheat shipments in 2025/26 due to a larger harvest and slower shipments at the start of the season, the country’s deputy economy minister told Reuters.
CBOT March wheat WH26 fell 9-1/2 cents to close at $5.49-1/2 a bushel, while March corn CH26 finished 8 cents lower at $4.41-1/2 a bushel.
— Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago, Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Gus Trompiz in Paris.
