By Ella Cao and Naveen Thukral
BEIJING/SINGAPORE, Sept 10 (Reuters) – China has bought around 1 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans this week, four traders told Reuters, as the world’s top oilseed buyer steps up purchases ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington later this month.
The purchases take China’s total U.S. soybean buying to nearly half of the 25 million tons the White House said Beijing had committed to annually through 2028.
While China’s purchases of U.S. soybeans could help bolster trade and diplomatic ties with Washington, the buying also coincides with tightening global oilseed supplies amid dwindling inventories in top exporter Brazil.
“There have been more purchases made by Sinograin in the past few days,” said one Asia-based trader. “They have been buying before Xi’s visit to U.S.”
State buyers Sinograin and COFCO did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday reported 340,000 tons of U.S. soybean sales to China and another 100,000 tons to unknown destinations.
China still has a 10% additional tariff on all U.S. goods, including agricultural products after a tit-for-tat tariff war last year. A cut to the tariff on soybeans could draw private Chinese crushers back to U.S. supplies after tariffs largely shut them out of the market.
After a meeting between the two countries’ leaders in May, Washington said China had agreed to buy $17 billion worth of non-soy U.S. agricultural goods annually through 2028, while maintaining its commitment to purchase 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans each year over the same period.
In late July, U.S. President Donald Trump said Xi would visit Washington on September 24. China has not confirmed the visit date or the volume of any planned purchases of U.S. soybeans or other agricultural goods.
(Reporting by Naveen Thukral and Ella Cao; Editing by Saad Sayeed)
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