Soybean futures held above $12.2 per bushel, staying near a nine-week high as renewed Chinese demand and higher crude oil prices outweighed better-than-expected US crop conditions.
The USDA rated 66% of the nation's soybean crop in good-to-excellent condition, up one percentage point from the previous week and above market expectations.
Meanwhile, ongoing fighting in the Middle East kept crude oil prices sharply higher, boosting the outlook for biofuel demand.
Chinese buying also reinforced bullish sentiment, with the USDA reporting private export sales of 340,000 metric tons of US soybeans to China for delivery in the 2026/27 marketing year.
However, China's June soybean imports from the US fell 20.6% year-on-year to 1.27 million tons, reflecting the impact of earlier trade tensions, while imports from Brazil rose 13.7% to 12.08 million tons, lifting China's total soybean arrivals to a record 13.55 million tons in June.