Posted on December, 14, 2018 at 10:48 am
By Arvin Donley
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. — China on Dec. 12 made its first major purchases of soybeans from the United States since the countries declared a trade war in July, according to multiple news outlets.
Earlier this month, China President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to a 90-day trade war truce. Trump told Reuters on Wednesday that the Chinese were already “buying a tremendous amount of U.S. soybeans.”
China reportedly purchased about 1.5 million tonnes of soybeans this week, much to the relief of U.S. farmers who produced a record harvest this fall but have had to store much of it since China is by far the largest buyer of U.S. soybeans.
In 2017, 60% of U.S. soybean exports went to China and were worth more than $12 billion.
The soybean purchases by China this week are said to be valued at more than $500 million.
Following the news on Wednesday, January and March soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade rose 5 cents to close at $9.20 and $9.33, respectively.
Source: WORLD-GRAIN.COM