Soybean and corn futures rose on Thursday, with wheat little changed.
Soybeans saw the strongest advances on the day, with much of the upward momentum attributed to ideas of a possible de-escalation in the current trade war between the US and China, the largest buyer of American beans. China said today that no negotiations between the two countries have taken place, but US President Donald Trump said talks are underway. This morning’s USDA weekly export sales report tallied old-crop soybean sales in the week ended April 17 at 277,012 tonnes, on the lower end of the expected range of 200,000 to 600,000. May beans climbed 12 ¾ cents to $10.53, and November was up 8 cents at $10.35 ½.
Corn gained on good export demand and bargain buying. Weekly export sales for the week ended April 17 were reported by the USDA at 1.15 million tonnes, at the higher end of pre-report trade expectations. A weaker greenback lent support as well. May corn was up 5 ¼ cents at $4.77 ¼, and December added 2 cents to $4,56 ½.
The weaker US dollar underpinned wheat, although forecasts for rain for the dry southern and northern Plains were bearish. The weekly export sales report showed net cancellations of 145,000 tonnes for old-crop wheat, with new-crop bookings of 371,7000 tonnes – above trade expectations. May Chicago wheat was a penny higher at $5.29 ¼, May Kansas City was steady at $5.37 ¾, and May Minneapolis was 1 cent higher at $5.92 ½.
