Soybean prices leapt to a six-week high on Friday after President Trump met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, and they made progress toward a deal to settle the ongoing trade war with China. Both countries’ leaders now appear optimistic that they can strike a compromise to prevent the self-imposed March 1 deadline before tariffs rise again, a threat that President Trump mentioned on Thursday.
One third of all U.S. soybeans are typically exported to China, but tariff disputes slowed exports to a trickle, creating a record backlog of soybeans and slamming prices lower. As a show of good faith, the Chinese have made some substantial purchases of U.S. soybeans already and are proposing to purchase more from our nearly one-billion-bushel projected stockpile. As of midday Friday, soybeans for delivery in March traded for $9.25 per bushel.