Corn, wheat, and soybean futures all moved modestly higher on Tuesday amid trader positioning ahead of the upcoming US Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.
Soybeans also drew support from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments in an interview earlier today that Chinese buying of American soybeans is ‘right on schedule.’ Although some market watchers remain skeptical, China is expected by US government officials to buy 12 million tonnes of US soybeans before the end of the year and at least 25 million tonnes annually for the next three years. The USDA’s daily flash sale system was quiet this morning after nearly 1.9 million tonnes in sales to China over the last couple weeks. January beans gained 1 ½ cents to $11.24 ¾, and new-crop November was up 2 ½ cents to $11.19 ¼.
Along with pre-holiday positioning, expectations for a US Federal Reserve interest rate cut next month also boosted corn and wheat. However, falling Russia wheat export prices and large global supplies continued to overhang wheat. March Chicago was 4 ½ cents higher at $5.39 ¼, and March Kansas City added 5 ¾ cents to $5.28 ¼. March Hard Red Spring was 2 cents higher at $5.57 ¼, and March Minneapolis gained 4 ¾ cents to $5.80 ¾.
Firm cash prices helped to underpin corn. March was 1 ½ cents higher at $4.38 ¼, and December ended with a 1 ¾-cent gain to $4.61 ¾.
