CBOT soy ends down on trade woes, Brazilian harvest progress

CHICAGO, March 3 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures closed lower on Monday on spillover weakness from sliding corn futures, worries about trade tensions with U.S. soy buyers and the ongoing harvest of a bumper Brazilian soy crop, traders said.

• CBOT May soybeans SK25 settled down 14-1/4 cents at $10.11-1/2 per bushel after dipping to $10.08, the contract's lowest since January 10.

• CBOT May soymeal SMK25 ended down $2.20 at $298 per short ton and May soyoil BOK25 fell 0.63 cent to finish at 43.49 cents per pound.

• U.S. President Donald Trump appeared set to impose tariffs early on Tuesday on Canada and Mexico amid last-minute negotiations over border security and the flow of fentanyl.

• After the CBOT close, Trump said there was no chance for Mexico or Canada to avert the tariffs.

• China is targeting American agricultural exports as it prepares countermeasures against fresh U.S. import tariffs, China's state-backed Global Times reported.

• China is by far the world's largest soybean buyer and Mexico is the No. 2 buyer of U.S. soybeans so far in the 2024/25 marketing year that began Sept. 1.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 695,158 metric tons, in line with trade expectations for 350,000 to 975,000 tons. USDA/I

• The USDA reported after the close of the CBOT that U.S. soy processors crushed 212.5 million bushels of soybeans in January, above the average estimate of 211.1 million bushels in a Reuters poll of analysts. Trade estimates had ranged from 209 million to 212.5 million bushels.

• In Brazil, farmers are roughly halfway through the harvest of what is projected as a record-large soybean crop, consultancy AgRural data showed.