Soybean futures fell on Thursday, even as new sales to China were announced by the USDA. Corn and wheat also ended weaker.
The USDA in its daily export sales reporting system today said China booked 462,000 tonnes of US soybeans. That brings this week’s total of Chinese buying to 1.12 million tonnes, and 1.8 million since the beginning of November. However, traders and analysts continue to have serious concerns as to whether China will buy the expected 12 million tonnes by the end of this year. Meanwhile, this morning’s USDA weekly export sales report showed bookings of US soybeans for the week ended Oct. 2 at 919,447 tonnes, in the middle of trade expectations. January beans fell 13 ¾ cents to $11.22 ½, and March was down 12 ½ cents at $11.32.
The losses in soybeans weighed on corn, while gains in the US dollar were also a negative influence. Weekly export sales for corn for the week ended Oct. 2 were reported at 2.26 million tonnes, on the high side of analysts' estimates and the largest so far in the marketing year. December corn fell 3 ¼ cents to $4.26 ½, and March was down 3 ¾ cents at $4.37 ¾.
Wheat remained under pressure from large global supplies, even as the USDA reported a private export sale of 132,000 tonnes of white wheat to China this morning. The International Grains Council today raised its estimate of 2025-26 global wheat production by 3 million tonnes from October to 830 million, well above 799 million the previous year. Weekly export sales of 887,864 tonnes were on the high side of expectations. December Chicago lost 9 ¾ cents to $5.27, and December Kansas City dropped 9 ¼ cents to $5.06 ¼. December Hard Red Spring closed 6 ½ cents lower at $5.39 ¾, and December Minneapolis was down 8 ½ cents to $5.72 ¾.
