Soybeans at stake: China and the US grow closer, but what about Brazil?

China's state-owned Cofco carried out the purchase of soybeans from the United States on Wednesday (29), ending a gap of almost five months without acquisitions from the North American country. The shipments amount to around 180,000 tons, with delivery expected between December and January, and mark the first purchases of the new American crop. The move has rekindled expectations of a new trade understanding between Beijing and Washington. Agribusiness analyst Carlos Cogo assesses that an agreement is the "natural path" following the recent rapprochement between the two countries. "China has two options. It can repeat what it did in phase 1 of the agreement with the Trump administration, making purchase commitments in quotas or volumes, or reduce the import tariff, currently at 34% on American soybeans. If that tariff falls to 10% or 3%, as Brazil pays, all exporters will return to competing on similar conditions," explained Cogo. According to the analyst, futures prices in ...