Soybean futures fell on Friday, even as more US sales to China were reported by the USDA this morning. Corn and wheat were also mainly lower.
The private export sale of 462,000 tonnes takes total known soybean sales to China so far in the 2025-26 marketing year to 2.845 million. However, that remains well below the 12 million tonnes that China was initially expected to buy before the end of this year. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this week suggested the deadline for the Chinese purchases is actually February, adding that China seemed on track to meet its commitment. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also said this week that U.S. trade with China probably needs to be smaller. Positioning ahead of Tuesday’s USDA supply-demand update was a factor, with traders expecting an upward revision in 2025-26 US soybean ending stocks from November. January beans lost 14 ¼ cents to $11.05 ¼, and November 2026 was down 10 ¾ cents at $11.04.
Heavy global supplies continued to overhang the wheat and corn markets, despite good export demand. US corn ending stocks are expected by traders and analysts to tighten slightly from last month, while wheat ending stocks are seen slightly lower as well.
March corn lost 2 ½ cents to $4.44 ¾, and new-crop December was down a ½ cent at $4.64 ¼.
March Chicago wheat lost 4 ½ cents to $5.35 ¾, and March Kansas City was down 2 ¾ cents at $5.31 ¼. March Hard Red Spring eased 2 ½ cents to $5.60 ¼, and March Minneapolis was steady at $5.73.
