GRAINS-CBOT soybeans set for strongest week since April on China buying agreement

BEIJING, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures edged lower on Friday, remaining on course for their largest weekly gain in more than six months, buoyed by news that Beijing has agreed to ramp up purchases of U.S. farm goods as part of a trade truce with Washington.

Corn and wheat were also set for their third consecutive weekly gains.

FUNDAMENTALS

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 fell 0.11% to $11.06-1/2 a bushel as of 0058 GMT, after hitting a 15-month high on Thursday.

CBOT corn Cv1 lost 0.12% to $4.29-3/4 a bushel and wheat Wv1 dipped 0.05% to $5.24 a bushel, weighed down by abundant supplies.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to lower tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, resuming U.S. soybean purchases and keeping rare earths exports flowing.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans through January and 25 million tons annually for the next three years.

Traders cautioned uncertainty over the exact time frame of the purchases, with no large-scale transactions confirmed yet.

Ongoing uncertainty over the size of the U.S. corn crop as harvest wraps up also pressured the market.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended weekly export sales reports, normally published on Thursdays, due to the federal government shutdown.

The European Commission on Thursday increased its estimate of usable production of common wheat, or soft wheat, in the European Union in 2025-26 to 133.4 million metric tons from 132.6 million previously.

Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT soybeans, corn and soymeal on Thursday, traders said. COMFUND/CBT

MARKETS NEWS

Global shares dropped and were set for their biggest daily decline in three weeks, weighed down by megacaps Microsoft and Meta, while the dollar rose against the yen on policy updates from the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan. MKTS/GLOB