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Ag economist: China’s soybean buying encouraging, not unusual

China has continued its purchases of U.S. soybeans as the new crop marketing year gets closer, and an ag economist with University of Missouri Extension says it’s encouraging, but not unusual.

Ben Brown tells Brownfield “In some regards, like you can look at historical context and say, ok, they’re buying now. They’re usually buying at this point, this is a good sign,” he says. “You can also look at it and say, ok, well, they didn’t buy this time last year when we were fully into this trade conflict or whatever you want to call it.”

He says market analysts are interested to see if China buys more soybeans than expected and what that does for commodity prices. Additional purchases could provide more price support for soybeans.

“They’ve committed to buying more than what we would normally send them under, you know, all the different market fluctuations and available supplies in the global market.”

China has committed to purchase 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans per year as part of a purchase agreement, with this year’s target prorated, which is expected to be lower than the annual goal.

Brown says most producers are now focused on marketing this fall’s crop as the market watches export demand from China.