Soybeans at 2-week high as tariff waivers by China support

Chicago soybean futures rose for a fifth straight session on Monday to their highest in almost two weeks after China last week said it will waive import
tariffs for some U.S. soybean and pork shipments.
    
Wheat lost ground after closing marginally higher, while corn ticked up.
    
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade rose 0.3% to $8.92-1/2 a bushel by 0347 GMT, having
earlier in the session climbed to its highest since Nov. 26 high at $8.94-1/4 a bushel. 
    
Wheat was down 0.2% at $5.23-1/4 a bushel, while corn added 0.1% at $3.77 a bushel.
    
"The market is being helped by China granting further tariff waivers on imports of U.S. soybeans," said Tobin Gorey, director
of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
    
"The better tone on U.S.-China trade sentiment also helped – but only so much."
    
The tariff waivers by China were based on applications by individual companies, the finance ministry said in a statement,
citing a decision by the country's Cabinet without specifying the quantities involved.
    
U.S. traders and farmers hope negotiations will ease the trade war and increase Chinese purchases of American
agricultural products. The tariff waivers are "good mood music," White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said.
    
China's November soybean imports jumped from a year ago as shipments from the United States booked during a truce in the
Sino-U.S. trade war cleared customs, customs data showed.

China imported 8.28 million tonnes of soybeans in November, up 54% from 5.38 million tonnes a year ago, as U.S. soybean
cargoes arrived, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Sunday.
    
Canadian farmers produced the smallest canola crop in four years, less than expected, after unusually wet autumn weather
that left millions of acres unharvested, a government report showed on Friday.
    
Farmers produced 18.6 million tonnes of canola, down 8% from last year, Statistics Canada reported, and 1 million tonnes less
than the average trade guess before the report. Canada is the world's biggest producer and exporter of canola.
     
Large speculators trimmed their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week to Dec. 3, regulatory data released on
Friday showed. 
    
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial
traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and increased their net short
position in soybeans.

 Grains prices at 0347 GMT
 Contract    Last    Change  Pct chg  Two-day chg  MA 30   RSI
 CBOT wheat  523.25  -1.25   -0.24%   -0.10%       519.18  57
 CBOT corn   377.00  0.25    +0.07%   +0.07%       384.53  43
 CBOT soy    892.50  3.00    +0.34%   +0.93%       908.93  55
 CBOT rice   12.29   -$0.03  -0.20%   -0.08%       $12.11  55
 WTI crude   58.88   -$0.32  -0.54%   +0.77%       $56.97  
 Currencies                                                
 Euro/dlr    $1.105  $0.000  -0.03%   -0.43%               
 USD/AUD     0.6830  -0.001  -0.12%   -0.04%               
 Most active contracts
 Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per
 hundredweight
 RSI 14, exponential
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; editing by Uttaresh.V)