Soybeans rise as traders await Trump-Xi meeting, meal sets highs
DBA•Soybeans and soymeal hit contract highs on China demand hopes
Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rose on Wednesday and reached contract highs in deferred months on hopes of increased Chinese demand.
Soymeal futures also set contract highs.
Traders waited to see whether top importer China would ramp up purchases of U.S. soybeans in conjunction with an expected meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Washington next week. On Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent disclosed plans to meet with his Chinese counterpart this weekend.
Talk of global demand also helped support soymeal prices.
"The most surprising action is occurring in the meal, where new highs are chronic, as are open interest increases, with talk of export demand picking up," said Charlie Sernatinger, executive vice president of Marex.
Corn and wheat move in opposite directions as harvest progresses
Most-active soybean futures Sv1 closed up 1-3/4 cents at $13.20-1/2 a bushel. Soymeal futures SMv1 ended up $0.20 at $365.60 per short ton after rising earlier to a high of $368.70.
Wheat futures Wv1 also advanced on the CBOT, with the most-active contract finishing up 2-1/4 cents at $7.30-3/4 a bushel.
But corn futures Cv1 ended down 1-1/2 cents at $5.34-1/4 a bushel as traders awaited U.S. harvest results.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its corn production and yield estimates in a monthly report on Friday. However, the agency raised the crop's good-excellent rating by 1 percentage point in a weekly report on Monday.
Farmers harvested 8% of the nation's corn crop and 6% of the soybean crop as of Sunday, according to USDA.
"The corn market is just on hold," said Don Roose, president of brokerage U.S. Commodities. "It's up to the combine."
