By Kirk Maltais


--Soybeans for July delivery rose 0.5%, to $10.50 1/4 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday, rising after President Trump confirmed that he spoke to Chinese President Xi about meeting to resolve the trade rift between the two nations.

--Wheat for July delivery rose 0.4%, to $5.45 1/4 a bushel.

--Corn for July delivery fell 0.1%, to $4.38 1/2 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Talk Session: CBOT grain futures stumbled out of the starting block in early trade, but rebounded after President Trump posted on his Truth Social account that he had spoken with Chinese President Xi on the phone. Trump said that the discussion "resulted in a very positive conclusion for both countries." But grain traders question how much the gyrations over trade will affect CBOT futures in the long run. "I think traders are working spreads," said Linda Meyer of Agrisource.

Getting a Drink: Incidences of extreme or exceptional drought in the Central U.S. continue to shrink, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Areas of Nebraska that experienced extreme or exceptional drought are now far less dry. There is now only a small region of eastern Nebraska experiencing that level of drought. Weather throughout the Corn Belt is expected to keep the trend of soil moisture improvement going over the next two weeks. "More rain is needed in the next two weeks in Nebraska/Iowa, but otherwise water availability won't be a major issue," said Daniel Flynn of Price Futures Group in a note.


INSIGHT


In Other News: The Trump-Xi call was the top trade headline, but other trade news was less supportive. A request by Vietnam for tariff relief was rejected as the White House pushes for the country to distance itself further from trade with China. "The U.S. has rejected Vietnam's request for tariff relief, despite the offer to eliminate tariffs on all American goods and purchase $2 billion in U.S. agricultural products," said John Stewart and Associates in a note.

Higher Output: Black Sea grain consultancy SovEcon lifted its projections for Ukraine's agricultural output in 2025, raising the forecast for corn by 1.5 million metric tons to 28.3 million tons. The wheat outlook is now 22.6 million tons, up 900,000 tons from the previous forecast. "Favorable rains in May helped replenish soil moisture in most regions, improving yield prospects," said Andrey Sizov of SovEcon. The firm also increased its outlook for grain exports out of Ukraine.

Cheaper Cars: Winter wheat shipped by rail costs less than it did last month, the USDA said. In its weekly Grain Transportation Report the rail tariff rate sank for hard red winter wheat sent to ports in Texas. BNSF Railway and Union Pacific both brought their rates down, BNSF by $500 a railcar and UP by $400 a car. The USDA said that the cost to transport winter wheat on these railways is down by as much as 16% from the previous year.


AHEAD


--The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.

--The USDA will release its weekly Grain Export Inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

--The USDA will release its weekly Crop Progress report at 4 p.m. ET Monday.


Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-05-25 1515ET