Wheat in Chicago fluctuates on uncertainty over China’s purchases

Wheat futures in Chicago oscillated between gains and losses on Wednesday. Traders assessed the lack of confirmation from China of the statement of the Donald Trump administration about billions of dollars in purchases of agricultural products. This is reported by Bloomberg.

Base wheat contracts fell as much as 1% on Wednesday, after which they rose as much as 0.8%. At the same time, soybean and corn futures fell.

In the previous two sessions, wheat prices rose by almost 5% after the White House said on Monday that China had agreed to buy at least $17 billion in American agricultural products annually until 2028 – in addition to previously announced purchases of soybeans. This was the result of talks between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Beijing last week.

However, in a statement on Wednesday, China’s Ministry of Commerce only confirmed the existence of a “tentative target” between the countries to expand bilateral agricultural trade, without mentioning the $17 billion figure.

The lack of official confirmation from China is increasing uncertainty around the trade conflict between Washington and Beijing and is weighing on prices, said Cornucopia Agri Analytics strategist Tobin Gorey. According to him, the market wants to see real deals, not just promises.

Despite this, the market is supported by concerns about the state of the U.S. crop due to weather conditions. The state of winter wheat remains historically weak, with only 27% of the crops rated good or excellent compared to 52% a year ago (as of May 17).

Tags: China, corn, grain, prices, soybean, wheat, USA