Soybeans Hold Support With Export Sales, Corn Also Firm: Cattle Soar Chasing Cash

Soybean futures traded two-sided but managed to hold key chart support for a second day and ended slightly higher. Mark Schultz with Northstar Commodity says the $10.80 level has been strong support and he thinks it held with the help of more daily export sales. USDA announced private exporters had sold 9.7 million bu. of soybeans to China and 8.3 million bu. of soybeans to unknown destinations for 2025-26.

Schultz says corrections in the market are healthy if they uncover demand. “what you’re finding is you’re finding actual buying taking place. So that is a good sign. Flash sales this week right now leaning towards about 40 million bushels of beans sold. So I would suspect next week’s export sales are going to probably be somewhere in that 50 to maybe 60 million bushel range and that helps soybeans exports to start catching up. Now, we got a lot of making up to do. We’re some 470 million bushels behind on the sales pace versus the same pace a year ago, but at least it’s starting to pick up a little bit.

China Export Sales Totals Rising

This week China has bought 14.7 million bu. of U.S. soybeans which confirms a portion of the 11 to 13 cargoes of China sales that have been rumored. Schultz says export sales to China continue to slowly add up. “Well, I would guess they’re going to start hovering into that three to four or five million metric ton purchase is where i think they get to you get some unknowns in here too. So that could be China as well. We just don’t know that but I would say if I had to make an assumption my assumption would be yes that would be China. But anyway you cut with China its big purchases and that helps the market,” he says.

The key for the market moving ahead will be how much of the trade agreement China fulfills. “It’s a function of does

this trade agreement that we have verbally agreed to with China do they hold up their end of the bargain if they do then I think the business will get done and we will eventually when it’s all done at the end of the calendar year we will meet or exceed what USDA is projecting for exports,” he says.