China’s Slow Soybean Purchases Pressure Corn Markets

million tonne target by year-end. The focus last week was exports to China, as the market is debating whether they will happen or not. Trump and his administration have stated that China will buy 12 million tonnes of soybeans before the end of the year, but official data shows 1.8 million tonnes bought as of last week after the latest publication. This means it will be increasingly difficult that China will buy all the committed volume. The positive tone came on the wheat side, with fresh exports to China of around 132,000 tonnes announced last week — the second purchase of wheat. Our view remains unchanged, with more downside than upside risk given ample supplies in all key producing countries in both corn and wheat. The only supportive factors are the slow pace of the Ukrainian corn harvest and the speed of China’s soybean buying – although there are many question marks over the latter. Last week started strong for all grains in all geographies after the selloff of the previous ...