Soybeans rebound on demand hopes, corn dips on crop outlook - CBOT
CBOT prices diverge as favourable weather weighs on corn
18 July 2025
2 minute read
By: Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean futures hit their highest level in more than a week on Thursday as technical buying helped the market recover from a three-month low reached on Monday, Reuters reports, citing analysts.
Corn futures retreated after rising for the previous three sessions in a rebound from contract lows set on Monday.
Both markets continued to face pressure from expectations for large US autumn harvests and mostly favourable crop weather in the world's biggest corn-producing country and second-largest soybean producer.
"We're marching to a crop, and the weather looks non-threatening," said Don Roose, president of brokerage US Commodities.
CBOT soybeans Sv1 were up 6 cents at $10.26-1/2 a bushel by 12:30 p.m. CDT (1730 GMT), after rising on Wednesday on hopes for increased demand for U.S. supplies from Indonesia and top importer China.
US soybean export sales in the week ended July 10 reached 529,600 tons for 2025-26 shipment, above analysts' expectations for 150,000 to 400,000 tons.
For corn, new-crop US export sales of 565,900 tons were within analysts' estimates.
CBOT corn was down 3-3/4 cents at $4.20-1/4 a bushel. The December contract, which represents the crop that farmers will harvest this autumn, set a low of $4.07-1/2 on Monday.
"While price weakness attracted opportunistic demand, a favourable weather outlook could well see lows tested again in the weeks ahead," Rabobank analysts said.
US President Donald Trump added pressure on corn prices, analysts said, by saying on Wednesday that Coca-Cola had agreed to use cane sugar in its US beverages. Coca-Cola produced for the US market is typically sweetened with corn syrup.
Analysts estimated that a little more than 400 million bushels of corn are used annually to make high fructose corn syrup, though not all of that is put into beverages.
US corn production is projected at 15.7 billion bushels for 2025-26, and total usage is expected to be about 15.4 billion bushels, according to USDA data.
In CBOT wheat, most-active futures were down 8 cents at $5.33-1/4 a bushel.
