Wheat and soybean futures closed with strong gains on Thursday, with corn posting more modest gains.
Soybeans hit a two-month high as the market drew support from a report in the South China Morning Post that a planned April meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping could result in the current trade truce between the two countries being extended for as long as a year. That in turn could result in additional Chinese demand for US soybeans. On the other side, Brazil’s Conab crop agency raised its estimate of that country’s 2025-26 soybean harvest by about 1.9 million tonnes to just under 178 million, with the Rosario Grains Exchange revising its estimate of the Argentina soybean harvest 1 million tonnes higher to 48 million. Meanwhile, the USDA’s weekly export sales report this morning was disappointing, showing bookings of US soybeans for the week ended Feb. 5 at just 281,798 tonnes, a new marketing year low. March soybeans climbed 13 ¼ cents to $11.37 ¼, and November was up 5 ¾ cents at $11.16 ¼.
Wheat was mainly supported by short covering, although the export sales report was considered positive. The report pegged bookings of US wheat for the week ended Feb. 5 at 487,998 tonnes, on the high side of pre-report trade guesses. March Chicago wheat climbed 15 ¼ cents to $5.52 ½, and March Kansas City gained 15 ½ cents to $5.54. March Hard Red Spring closed 9 ¾ cents higher at $5.79 ½, and March Minneapolis ended with a 7 ¼-cent gain to $5.77 ½.
Corn was lifted by the export sales report, which blew away trade expectations. The report showed a total of 2.07 million tonnes of corn sold in the week of Feb. 5, topping estimates between 600,000 and 1.1 million. That was also nearly double the previous week’s sales. March corn was 3 ¾ cents higher at $4.31 ¼, and December added 4 ¼ cents to $4.64.
