GRAINS-Soybeans pause after rally on Trump's China comments

BEIJING/PARIS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybeans were little changed on Friday, steadying near a two-month high fuelled by President Donald Trump's remarks that China would buy more U.S. soybeans.

Corn and wheat edged lower after being pulled higher by soybeans in the previous session.

Ample global supply continued to curb grain prices while traders turned their attention to a U.S. Department of Agriculture world crop report, due next Tuesday. USDA/EST

The most-active CBOT soybean Sv1 contract was up 0.2% at $11.14-3/4 a bushel, as of 1112 GMT.

Soybeans hit a two-month high on Wednesday after Trump posted that China was hiking purchases and "lifting the soybean count to 20 million tons" for the current season.

That implied China could buy an additional 8 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in 2025/26 on top of about 12 million tons already booked since a trade truce agreed in late October.

"Volatility will still be the theme for a little while yet in the soybean market. Certainly, U.S. farmers will be hoping the Chinese really do follow through with the increased buying program," said Josh Lawrence, advisory consultant at IKON Commodities.

Trump's comments surprised traders who expected China to rely heavily on Brazilian soybeans in the first half of 2026.

Brazil, the world's largest soybean producer and exporter, is expected to produce 181.6 million metric tons in 2025/26, consultancy firm StoneX said on Monday, raising its outlook for the harvest that is in progress.

Meanwhile, CBOT corn Cv1 fell 0.5% to $4.33 a bushel, easing from a three-week high on Thursday. CBOT wheat Wv1 inched down 0.1% at $5.34-3/4 a bushel.

Traders are monitoring dry weather in Argentina, though a massive U.S. harvest last year and favourable planting conditions for Brazil's second corn crop tempered concerns.

In wheat, traders have been monitoring severe cold in the U.S., Russian production belts, but snow cover is expected to limit potential crop losses.

Nearly all Russian crops were in normal condition as of Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev said.