Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rose on Thursday to their highest in nearly 17 months as traders awaited a U.S. government crop report that was expected to lower yield estimates, while also bracing for the resumption of export data to give clues on Chinese buying.
Corn futures set a near five-month high ahead of Friday’s report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but wheat drifted lower on forecasts for a record-large Argentine crop that reinforced expectations of ample global supplies.
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CBOT benchmark January soybeans Sv1 settled up 13-1/4 cents at $11.47 per bushel after reaching $11.50-1/2, the highest on a continuous chart of the most-active contract since June 2024.
Corn Cv1 ended up 6-1/4 cents at $4.41-1/2 a bushel and CBOT wheat Wv1 settled down 1/4 cent at $5.35-3/4 a bushel.
The USDA is scheduled to release on Friday its first global supply and demand outlook since September, a delay linked to the 43-day federal government shutdown that disrupted official data before ending this week.
The agency began releasing export sales data on Thursday, starting with its weekly report from the week ended September 25, and planned to issue a list on Friday showing daily sales of U.S. agricultural products over the last six weeks.
“Soybean and corn traders see possibilities of previously unknown demand after a number of key trade agreements were signed during the shutdown, leading them to consider the bullish possibilities,” StoneX chief commodities economist Arlan Suderman wrote in a client note.
The absence of the export statistics has heightened uncertainty over whether China has purchased U.S. crops since agreeing to a trade truce with Washington in late October.
U.S. officials have said China pledged to buy 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans over November and December.
Ahead of Friday’s supply and demand reports, a Reuters poll of analysts projected on average that the USDA will lower its U.S. corn yield estimate to 184.0 bushels per acre (bpa) from 186.7 bpa in its previous September 12 forecast and peg the U.S. soybean yield at 53.1 bpa, down from 53.5 bpa previously.
“Friday’s (USDA report) will be so crucial for the market. The market will be able to get real figures, with harvesting almost over,” said Veysel Kaya, owner of research and brokerage firm Sunseedman.
Wheat futures were pressured by rising forecasts of Argentina’s 2025-26 crop. The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange raised its estimate of Argentina’s wheat harvest to 24 million metric tons, from 22 million previously, and the Rosario Exchange on Wednesday raised its wheat forecast to a record 24.5 million tons.
— Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Gus Trompiz in Paris.
