Soybean futures ended with strong gains on Monday amid renewed hopes China will finally return as a buyer of American beans. Corn and wheat were also higher.
Following two days of meetings with Chinese officials in Malaysia, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that China will make “substantial” purchases of US soybeans. Meanwhile, with the framework of a deal in place, US President Donald Trump said today he hopes to clinch a new trade agreement when he meets his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the APEC Summit in South Korea later this week. Details remain lacking, but the potential for Chinese buying was enough to rally the soybean market to four-month highs. Amid ongoing trade tensions between the two nations, China has far passed on 2025-crop US soybeans in favour of supplies from South America instead. January soybeans jumped 24 ¾ cents to $10.85 and March was 22 cents higher at $10.95 ½.
The buying in soybeans spilled over to support corn, although the advances were much more modest. Strong domestic and export demand for US corn continues to bolster cash corn basis levels in the country, while producers continue to hold off for more profitable price levels amid generally disappointing corn yields, said today’s market commentary from Barchart. December corn gained 5 ½ cents to $4.28 ¾, and March was up 7 ¼ cents at $4.44 ¼.
Wheat was also higher on spillover support from soybeans, with the winter wheat markets seeing the largest gains. December Chicago climbed 13 ¼ cents to $5.26, and December Kansas City was 12 ¾ cents higher at $5.14 ¼. December Hard Red Spring added 3 ½ cents to $5.44, and December Minneapolis closed with a 3 ¼-cent gain to $5.60 ¼.
