Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures ended slightly higher on Thursday as Argentina reinstated export taxes on grains after a suspension increased competition for sales on the global market.
Corn futures also crawled higher as traders monitored reports from early U.S. harvesting, while wheat futures jumped in a recovery from contract lows.
Argentina reimposed export taxes on grains and their by-products as it hit a target sales cap of $7 billion after suspending them on Monday. The country’s declared soy exports for the 2024/25 season hit a seven-year high after the brief pause triggered a trading frenzy.
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Chinese buyers booked about 20 cargoes, or roughly 1.3 million tons, of Argentine soybeans after Buenos Aires suspended taxes, two traders said on Wednesday. The deals were a setback to U.S. farmers already shut out of their top market during the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
“Argentina’s export tax holiday ended as abruptly today as it started,” said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for StoneX.
CBOT November soybeans SX25 settled 3-1/4 cents higher at $10.12-1/4 per bushel.
The most-active soybean contract Sv1 set a six-week low on Tuesday as China bought Argentine cargoes, and analysts said the U.S. market will remain under pressure from China’s shift toward South American supplies.
“This will keep prices under pressure, but the downside is limited from current levels,” an agricultural broker in Australia said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported net U.S. soybean export sales were 724,500 metric tons for 2025/26 in the week that ended on Sept. 18. Analysts expected 600,000 to 1.6 million metric tons.
Weekly U.S. corn export sales of 1.9 million metric tons topped analysts’ estimates for 1 million to 1.8 million.
The advancing U.S. corn and soy harvests have put some supply pressure on prices, though doubts over the size of corn yields has lent support to that market.
CBOT December corn CZ25 closed up 1-1/2 cents at $4.25-3/4 per bushel, and December soft red winter wheat WZ25 advanced 7-1/2 cents to $5.27 per bushel.
European wheat futures also ticked higher as an upturn in international demand helped counter pressure from swelling global supplies.
-Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
