Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures finished flat on Friday but notched a second consecutive weekly decline as ample global supplies, favorable U.S. weather and weak Chinese demand hung over the market.
U.S. farmers were expected to harvest bumper soybean and corn crops this autumn following non-threatening weather conditions. At the same time, they worried that President Donald Trump’s latest wave of tariffs may hurt American farm exports at a time when soy and wheat sales have struggled.
The United States faces stiff competition for global soy sales from Brazil, the world’s biggest exporter of the oilseed.
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“Expectations of a robust U.S. harvest, alongside a second consecutive record Brazilian crop, are expected to weigh on prices for the remainder of the year,” analysts at BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, said in a note.
CBOT November soybeans SX25 ended unchanged at $9.89-1/4 a bushel after falling earlier to the lowest level since April 9. The contract lost about 3.1 per cent for the week.
China, the world’s biggest soy buyer, faces an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with Trump’s administration. The United States believes it has the makings of a trade deal, but it is “not 100 per cent done,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday.
A Chinese buyer signed a deal this week to import 30,000 metric tons of Argentine soymeal, as feed producers move to lock in cheaper supplies from South America, two trade sources said.
In CBOT wheat, September futures WU25 ended down 6-1/2 cents at $5.16-3/4 per bushel. The contract set a low of $5.16-1/4 a bushel earlier in the session and tumbled four per cent for the week as harvests in the Northern Hemisphere brought in new supplies.
CBOT corn also slumped, with the December contract CZ25 closing 3 cents lower at $4.10-3/4 a bushel. It lost about two per cent for the week.
Export sales of corn have been brisk as buyers take advantage of low prices. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported exporters sold a total of 352,160 metric tons of U.S. corn to unknown destinations via its daily reporting system.
—Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago; Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson in Beijing; and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris.
