The closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas over IP theft issues (along with suspected document destruction overnight at the facility) pressured soybeans in early trade. Corn benefited from unwinding of prior long soybeans/short corn spreads and additional export sales announcements supported soybeans on breaks. Wheat futures firmed and traded higher for nearly the entire day, erasing all of Monday’s losses.  The USDA announced three separate large sales of soybeans in this morning’s newswire: 

453,000 MT sold to China, with 66,000 MT for 2019/20 and the balance for 2020/21,

262,000 MT sold to China for 2020/21, and

211,300 MT sold to “unknown” destinations for 2020/21. ...