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The approaching high-stakes summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping is stoking anxiety in Beijing, the South China Morning Post reported Thursday, due to a perceived reluctance on the part of the U.S. to plan for the event.
The headline appeared to cause some temporary selling pressure in soybean futures, with the May contract hitting a session low shortly after the story was published Thursday morning.
Less than six weeks ahead of the March 31-April 2 summit in China, “preparations are inadequate, bilateral contacts anemic and outcomes diminished,” the article said, citing analysts and former government officials who tied the shortfall to Trump’s “reluctance to delegate, disdain for process and focus on quick wins, banking instead on personal magnetism and his ‘gut.’”
- The article said a call between Trump and Xi earlier this month eased fears that the summit might not happen, but has left months of work compressed into weeks.
Shortly after the article appeared, the spokesperson for China’s Embassy in Washington, D.C., posted on X that China “stands ready to work with the US side to jointly implement and uphold the consensus reached by the two heads of state at their meeting #Busan and during their February 4 phone call, and through consultations on an equal footing, properly manage differences, expand practical cooperation, and safeguard the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations, so as to better benefit both countries and the world.”
So, all good then? Soybeans eventually took back much of their decline, ending the day with a small loss.
- Also, the algos may have initially overlooked one nugget from the South China Morning Post article. The report, citing analysts,t said that Beijing has “focused on deliverables that will please Trump without undercutting Beijing’s interests…One key area: sales of Boeing aircraft and soy, both of which China needs anyway.”
Exemption redemption: Likely the more consequential news of the day came from a Reuters report that the Trump administration has settled on a plan that would require big oil refineries to make up for at least half of the biofuel blending volumes obligations waived in recent years under the Small Refinery Exemption program.
The report noted the decision could be unwelcome news for larger oil refiners that have argued that additional blending obligations would raise their costs. But it could help the biofuel industry by boosting demand for blending credits.
The Renewable Fuel Standard requires oil refineries to blend billions of gallons of ethanol and other biofuels into fuel or buy credits, called RINS, from refiners that do. Small refineries, however, can apply to have those requirements waived if they can show economic hardship. The question of whether to reallocate those exempted blending obligations to big refiners, sparking a long running battle between farm and fuel industries.
‘Significant progress’ in Iran talks: Oman’s foreign minister on Thursday said the US and Iran have made “significant progress” in talks over Tehran’s nuclear program and will meet again, according to news reports. The remarks came at the conclusion of another day of talks in Geneva.
The foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, who mediated talks between US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, said discussions would “resume soon after consultation in the respective capitals,” according to the Financial Times.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened military action against Iran if it doesn’t come to an agreement, sparking volatility in oil and energy futures.
Brent crude fell 0.1% to close at $70.21 a barrel Thursday after trading as high as $72.61.
Mortgage milestone: Mortgage rates fell below 6% this week for the first time in more than three years, the Wall Street Journal reported, providing welcome news for house hunters ahead of the spring home-buying season.
- The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 5.98% this week, the lowest level since September 2022 and a slight decline from last week, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
Mortgage rates were briefly above 7% in January 2025 but have been in retreat over the past several months, aided by cooling inflation as well as three rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in the second half of 2025, the report noted.
Breaking up biggest sugar producer: A proposal to break up Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Raizen is meeting stiff resistance from creditors in talks over how to revive and recapitalize the struggling firm, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the discussion.
The world’s largest sugar producer, a joint venture of Shell and industrial group Cosan, posted a quarterly net loss of 15.6 billion reais ($3 billion) and warned of “significant uncertainty” about its ability to keep operating, the report noted.
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