Demand optimism continued to buoy soybean futures on Thursday, while corn and wheat finished in the red.
Fueled by expectations of increased export business, soybeans posted gains of over 18 cents/bu on Wednesday and followed that up with more moderate gains today. According to reports, the advances were linked to ideas of more demand from No. 1 world buyer China, and Indonesia, following the completion of a new trade deal with the US. This morning’s USDA weekly export sales report showed bookings of new-crop American beans for the week ended July 10 at 529,600 tonnes, and old-crop at just under 272,000 – both within trade expectations. August soybeans gained 8 cents to $10.21 ½, and November added 6 cents to $10.26 ½.
Corn was weighed down by large US production expectations, amid a continued generally favourable weather outlook for the American Midwest. The market also apparently saw some pressure from US President Donald Trump’s comments that Coca-Cola had agreed to swap out corn syrup for cane sugar in its US beverages. Coca-Cola never confirmed or denied the switch. Weekly export sales for corn were considered generally disappointing, with old crop bookings at 97,600 and new crop at 565,900. September corn lost 3 ¼ cents to $4.02, and December dropped 3 cents to $4.21.
A stronger US dollar pressured wheat, along with increasing supplies from the North Hemisphere harvest. US wheat bookings of 494,400 tonnes for the week ended July 10 were within trade expectations. Some early pressure on wheat came from the slower pace of the Russian harvest. September Chicago ended 7 ¾ cents lower at $5.33 ½, September Kansas City dropped 5 ¼ cents to $5.17 ½, and September Chicago spring wheat eased 1 ¾ cents to $5.78 ¼.
