China has purchased its largest daily volume of US soybeans since November last year, as agricultural trade gains momentum following US-China trade negotiations.
According to Bloomberg on the 9th, the US Department of Agriculture said the previous day that US exporters had sold 472,000 tons of US soybeans to China.
Of this amount, 136,000 tons are scheduled for delivery in the current marketing year, with the remaining 336,000 tons to be delivered in the next marketing year. This marks the largest single-day export contract for US soybeans bound for China since November last year.
Bloomberg reported that "this US soybean purchase followed a series of shipment contracts for US soybeans signed by China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp. (COFCO), a Chinese state-owned grain company, earlier this week." It added that "COFCO signed contracts for at least six shipments early this week, and is known to have additionally purchased at least five more shipments for September-October delivery." Given that a single soybean carrier typically holds around 60,000 tons, the recent contracts are estimated to exceed 600,000 tons.
This expansion in US soybean purchases represents a change that emerged after the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in May. Analysts say China has moved to increase imports of US agricultural products as the two countries pursue easing trade tensions and implementing their agreement. US soybeans are a representative agricultural import for China and are regarded as one of the key indicators of US-China trade relations.
The White House had previously stated that China agreed to purchase at least 25 million tons of US soybeans annually through 2028 and to additionally import more than 17 billion dollars (about 25.68 trillion won) worth of US agricultural products in total.
He Yadong, spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce, said at a regular briefing on the 2nd, "Agricultural trade is an important component of China-US economic and trade cooperation." He added, "The two countries reached agreement on the direction for expanding agricultural trade through recent economic and trade consultations, and agreed in principle to include relevant agricultural products in the mutual tariff reduction framework."
He continued, "Companies will conduct transactions autonomously in accordance with market principles, taking into account actual demand and market conditions," and said, "China hopes to work with the United States to create favorable conditions for expanding agricultural trade."
