Market News

Soybeans, corn, wheat fall Friday with another round of liquidation

Soybeans were lower on fund and technical selling, ensuring a lower weekly finish. China will reportedly buy more U.S. ag products, but details continue to be hard to come by. Specifically for soybeans, it doesn’t look like there will be many purchases above and beyond the amounts previously agreed upon. Beijing reportedly bought more beans from Brazil ahead of Friday’s session. The USDA is projecting tighter new crop ending stocks due to expectations for a larger domestic crush and improved exports, with the updated outlook out June 11^th. Parts of the U.S. will see planting delays over the next few days, but the soil moisture recharge should be beneficial in many areas. However, there are some chances for severe storms, which could potentially damage early emerged crops. Soybean meal and oil futures were mixed on bull spreading, with nearby contracts up and deferred months down. Ahead of the open, Italy purchased 155,000 tons of 2025/26 U.S. soybean meal. The NOPA member soybean crush for April was up on the year, but below expectations.

Corn was lower on fund and technical selling, cementing the lower close for the week. Corn is watching the U.S. planting pace ahead of Monday’s weekly crop progress and condition report from the USDA, along with rain chances in some dry second crop areas of Brazil. CONAB did lower their second crop outlook recently, citing weather, and total production is expected to be slightly below a year ago, with the next guess out June 11^th. Harvest weather in Argentina looks generally favorable. There was also at least some disappoint for corn traders in the lack of specificity about new, broad demand from China. Ending stocks should be tighter in the 2026/27, and there could still be some demand from China for U.S. corn, but the lack of details have been deflating.

The wheat complex was sharply lower on fund and technical selling, while still eking out a week-to-week gain. The recent rally has limited new crop export demand and global supplies are ample, with a number of competing exporters priced low enough that have been a few recent reports of U.S. flour mills buying foreign wheat. 71% of U.S. winter wheat growing areas are in some stage of drought, up 1% on the week, still mostly impacting the hard red winter crop in the central and southern U.S. Plains. A recent HRW crop tour did show a better-than-expected average yield, but production in that state could still be a multi-year low. The trade is also watching planting in the northern U.S. Plains, Argentina, Australia, and Canada, along with development conditions in Europe, Russia, and Ukraine. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange projects Argentina’s 2026/27 wheat crop at 21.3 million tons, a drop of 23.4% from 2025/26, partially due to a reduction in planted area caused by higher input costs.