SINGAPORE – Chicago soybean futures rose on Thursday, hovering near three-month highs in the previous session, as Chinese buying expectations continued to support prices.
Markets for wheat and corn also emerged.
“There is optimism in the market that China will buy more U.S. soybeans,” said one agriculture broker. “This is supporting prices, but overall upside is limited because soybean supplies are plentiful.”
The most active soybean trade on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) rose 0.2% to $11.50-3/4 a bushel as of 0325 GMT, hitting its highest level since mid-November on Wednesday.
Wheat rose 0.6% to $5.55-3/4 a bushel, and corn rose 0.1% to $4.27-1/2 a bushel.
Traders are waiting for the market to return next week after the Lunar New Year holiday to see whether China will buy more supplies from the United States.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump said China was considering purchasing an additional 8 million tonnes.
U.S. soybean crush volumes in January hit a record high for the first month of the year, while soybean oil inventories ballooned to their highest since April 2023, according to monthly data from the National Oilseed Processors Association released Tuesday.
U.S. farmers, punished by weak prices after last year’s monster corn harvest, are expected to plant slightly less grain in 2026, bracing for a fourth straight year of narrow profit margins or even a deficit.
A Reuters poll of analysts ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual outlook forum this week found corn acres are expected to average 94.9 million acres in 2026, down about 4% from last year’s 89-year high but still the second-highest corn acres in 13 years.
According to the poll, 84.9 million acres of soybean acres were planted, in line with the 10-year average and up from a six-year low of 81 million acres planted in 2025.
Recent rains have helped soybean fields in Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, which had been suffering from hot, dry weather that undermined crop potential, according to meteorological bureau Rural Clima and LSEG meteorological data.
Brazil is expected to obtain a record soybean harvest of approximately 178 million tonnes in the 2025/26 marketing year.
