U.S. soy sales to China slowing down

soybean-field

Sales of U.S. soy to China have slowed down from a previously rapid pace. Reuters says the slowdown is raising questions of whether China is just pausing its purchases, or if most of the intended volume has been purchased and Chinese buyers are waiting for Brazil’s new supply to become available.

Surging soybean sales to China is helping the overall level of farm trade to the Asian nation set new records for this time of year, while at the same time bringing China closer to meeting the purchase requirements in the Phase One trade deal with the U.S.

Net export sales of U.S. soybeans to China during the week ending on October 29 totaled 810,710 tons, which is the lowest total in the last 11 weeks of the current marketing year.

That volume included 578,600 tons switched from unknown destinations. There hasn’t been a daily U.S. soybean sale explicitly to China since October 15, the longest streak since April of this year. U.S soybean prices have risen significantly over the last two months, which may be a limiting factor in further sales at the end of 2020.