SINGAPORE- Chicago soybeans rose on Wednesday, supported by solid demand from the world’s biggest importer China, while corn ticked lower.
Wheat fell for a fourth consecutive session after Australia raised its forecast for wheat production by more than a quarter following recent rains.
“China is key to soybean prices for now as they are buying US beans,” said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at agriculture brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney. “There are lots of things pivoting on China.”
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade (CBOT) added 0.1 percent to $8.64 a bushel. Wheat lost 0.4 percent to $5.02-3/4 a bushel, while corn gave up 0.3 percent to $3.26-1/2 a bushel.
China’s state-owned trader Sinograin bought at least 120,000 tons of US soybeans for shipment in December from US Pacific Northwest ports, two US traders familiar with the deals said.
The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) weekly crop conditions report, issued after the market close on Monday, rated 75 percent of the US corn crop as “good to excellent”, up from 74 percent last week and aligned with average analyst estimates in a Reuters poll.
For soybeans, the USDA rated 72 percent of the crop as “good to excellent”, up from 70 percent last week, and 82 percent of US spring wheat as “good to excellent”, above analyst expectations of 80 percent.