Chicago soybean prices eased from two-week highs on Friday as a record crop in Brazil weighed on the market, while wheat fell as operators adjusted their position in year-end trading and was still pressured by a strong dollar. Corn prices also slipped.
The most-active soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) shed 0.3% to $9.94 a bushel by 1215 GMT.
The CBOT wheat contract fell 0.4% to $5.38-3/4 a bushel. CBOT corn dropped 0.3% to $4.52-1/2 a bushel.
“The strength of the dollar, less than a month before the inauguration of the new American president, remains a factor of pressure on wheat prices, which are mechanically adjusting in order to remain attractive in the face of the arrival of new harvests from the southern hemisphere on the international scene,” Argus’ agriculture consultancy Agritel said in a note.
However, strong demand illustrated by Algeria’s hefty purchase this week was supportive.
Algeria’s state grains agency OAIC is believed to have purchased an estimated 1.17 million metric tons of milling wheat in an international tender that closed on Tuesday, European traders said.
Russia’s IKAR agricultural consultancy on Thursday said it saw 2025-26 wheat exports at 41 million metric tons in a baseline scenario, down from 43.5 million tons expected in the current season.
Russia harvested 125 million tons of grain and legumes, including 82 million tons of wheat in clean weight in 2024, down 13% from last year, data from statistical agency Rosstat showed on Thursday.
Chinese authorities
on Friday called for increased financial support to stabilise key agricultural products, including grain, as part of broader efforts to ensure food security for China’s 1.4 billion population.
Commodity funds were net buyers of Chicago Board of Trade corn, soybean, soymeal and wheat futures contracts on Thursday and net sellers of soyoil futures, traders said.
(Reporting by Mei Mei Chu in Beijing and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Louise Heavens)
