Chicago | Reuters – U.S. soybean futures eased on Wednesday on export concerns as large sales of Argentine soy to China kept attention on the top importer’s lack of purchases from the U.S.
Corn followed soybeans lower, although losses were limited by early harvest reports of smaller-than-expected yields in the heart of the Midwest Corn Belt.
Wheat finished the day lower as early short-covering and technical support faded and as weaker corn futures pressured the market.
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Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rose on Thursday to their highest in nearly 17 months as traders awaited a U.S. government crop report that was expected to lower yield estimates, while also bracing for the resumption of export data to give clues on Chinese buying.
“The soybeans have kind of been the downside leader with the Argentine tax situation and producers selling beans aggressively and China not buying from the U.S. There’s an overhang on the bean market that seems to be pulling the corn market down,” said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities.
Traders on Wednesday said that Chinese buyers have booked around 20 cargoes of Argentine soybeans since Argentina temporarily eliminated export taxes on soybeans, grains and byproducts earlier this week.
Argentina’s export tax waiver has reinforced China’s shift towards South American soybeans as it remains locked in a trade dispute with Washington.
Chicago Board of Trade November soybeans SX25 ended down 3 cents at $10.09 a bushel, just 4 cents above a six-week low set in the previous session. December corn CZ25 was down 2 cents at $4.24-1/4 a bushel.
Soybean and corn futures face seasonal supply pressure from the onset of the U.S. harvest, though doubts over yields have helped underpin both markets.
“I think it all depends on, as the harvest expands, what’s going to be the real yield? No doubt it’s under what the government has estimated, but it’s just a matter of how much,” Roose said.
Wheat futures were higher most of the day on short-covering and technical buying after posting contract lows a day earlier. But spillover pressure from weaker corn dragged futures down by the close, with CBOT December wheat WZ25 ending a penny lower at $5.19-1/2 a bushel.
-Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz
