US soy futures dip as traders await China sales; corn, wheat sag

By Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures retreated from a one-week top and closed lower on Monday on a lack of fresh soy sales to top buyer China and lingering doubts over whether the Asian nation will buy 12 million metric tons of the oilseed by the end of 2025, as forecast by senior U.S. officials.

Corn futures fell on profit-taking, while outlooks for plentiful world grain supplies pressured wheat.

Chicago Board of Trade January soybean futures SF26 settled down 9-3/4 cents at $11.28 per bushel, turning lower after an early climb to $11.42-1/4, the contract's highest price since November 20.

CBOT March corn CH26 ended down 2-3/4 cents at $4.45 a bushel, retreating after failing to push through chart resistance at the contract's 200-day moving average near $4.49.

CBOT March wheat WH26 finished down 3-1/2 cents at $5.35 a bushel.

The slowing pace of U.S. soy sales to China remained the focus of the market.

"Soybeans led the way lower on a lack of confirmation of any flash sales to China again this morning," Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX, wrote in a client note.

China started buying U.S. soybeans, wheat and sorghum after the U.S.-China trade truce in October. The U.S. government has confirmed over 2 million tons of soybean sales since October 30.

However, a slowdown in bookings has raised fears that China could fall well short of the U.S. cabinet members' forecast of 12 million tons of Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans by the end of this year, a target that Beijing has not confirmed.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is still catching up with back-dated weekly export sales reports following the government shutdown. The agency reported U.S. soybean sales for the week ended October 23 at 1,449,900 metric tons, in line with trade estimates, although none were booked to China.

Competition from South American crops remains a concern. StoneX, a brokerage, trimmed its forecast of Brazil's soybean crop to 177.2 million metric tons, down from 178.9 million a month ago but still a record harvest, if realized.

StoneX estimated Brazil's total 2025/26 corn production at 134.4 million tons, down 0.6% from its previous monthly forecast.

Ample harvests in the Southern Hemisphere anchored wheat futures.

The Australian government's ABARES agency raised its 2025/26 wheat production forecast by around 1.8 million metric tons to 35.6 million tons, cementing expectations for a bumper crop.