Soybean futures at 2-mth high as China buys 1.5m mt from US

Soybean futures prices in Chicago rallied for four straight days reaching the highest level in two months on Friday as Chinese crushers snapped up a substantial amount of US beans this week, shattering rumours the Chinese government ordered a halt to purchases on Monday.

Both state-owned and private crushers were heard actively buying US soybeans this week, contracting a total of around 1.5 million mt as of the end of Thursday this week, market sources told Agricensus.

Chinese crushers booked around 14-15 cargoes of US soybeans in the first half of the week and continued to buy another 7-9 cargoes on Thursday, pushing this week’s total to around 22-23 cargoes, according to sources.

Hence, CBOT soybean futures reversed from the dip on Monday and started a three-day rally throughout the curve.

By 1030 London time on Friday, the nearest contract for July 2020 delivery climbed to 870 c/bu, reaching the highest level since early April this year.

CBOT closed lower on Monday as the market priced in rumours the Chinese government had ordered companies to stop buying agricultural products from the US, putting the fulfillment of US-China phase one deal in doubt.

But that rumour was quickly dismissed as Chinese state-owned crushers entered the market and sought US soybeans, just hours after the start of the market chatter.

Meanwhile, Chinese crushers were also present in Brazil booking soybean shipments in the fourth quarter of this year despite prices being more expensive than shipments of US beans.