US farmers hope the talks will bring China back to the United States to buy more agricultural products, after Beijing last year imposed tariffs on imports of American farm goods including soyabeans, sorghum and pork. However, traders were reluctant to push prices too far in either direction without additional details about the status of the negotiations.
The nearby soyabean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 1-3/4 cents at $9.12-3/4 a bushel by 11:25 a.m. CST (1725 GMT). CBOT corn was up 1 cent at $3.76-1/2 and CBOT wheat was 1 cent higher at $4.87-1/2. Stakes are higher for farmers in the trade negotiations because China is the world's largest soya importer and a major buyer of other good such as grain sorghum.
The US Department of Agriculture expects the value of US farm exports to drop by $1.9 billion to $141.5 billion in fiscal 2019, versus 2018, led by a steep decline in shipments to China. The USDA reported on Friday that soya export sales for the six weeks ended Feb. 22 totalled 6.91 million tonnes. Analysts had expected 6.1 million to 9.6 million tonnes.
US corn export sales during the period were 6.086 million tonnes, within analysts forecasts for 4 million to 7.25 million tonnes. But wheat export sales reached 3.819 million tonnes, topping estimates for 2 million to 3.3 million tonnes.