China Halfway to Promised 12 MMT of US Soybean Purchases

Bloomberg’s Hallie Gu, Isis Almeida, and Michael Hirtzer reported that “China has secured at least 7 million tons of US soybeans after heavy buying in the past two weeks, passing the halfway mark toward meeting its 12-million ton purchase agreement with the Trump administration, according to people familiar with the deals.”

“The tally follows a wave of buying from Sinograin, the state company in charge of managing China’s strategic grain reserves. The stockpiler booked about 2 million tons from the US last week, according to the people,” Gu, Almeida and Hirtzer reported. “That has continued this week, with purchases of at least seven soybean cargoes, or more than 400,000 tons, they said.”

“The appearance of Sinograin in the market, which adds to deals booked by state-owned firm Cofco, could ramp up the pace of China’s imports. The purchases also are coming as the Asian nation was auctioning large volumes of soybeans from state reserves to clear space for the incoming cargoes,” Gu, Almeida and Hirtzer reported.

“The pace of buying has been opaque. Officially, the US Department of Agriculture has reported less than 4 million tons of soybeans sold to China, but the total has been widely considered to be higher. The US government shutdown has also delayed weekly export sales data, keeping some of the purchases by China under wraps,” Gu, Almeida and Hirtzer reported. “Additionally, US exporters have sold nearly 3 million tons of soybeans to unknown destinations through Nov. 20, according to USDA data. Such cargoes can see their destinations changed to China at shipment.”

“Ultimately, sellers in the US and buyers in China expect the target to be met, but murkiness on exactly when the supplies will ship — coupled with an expected record Brazilian harvest in the next few months — means that prices remain under pressure,” Gu, Almeida and Hirtzer reported.

Soybean Buying Deadline Now End of the ‘Growing Season’

CNBC’s Dan Mangan and Garrett Downs reported earlier in December that “U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday that the deadline for China to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans from American farmers was not the end of December as the White House has said, but the end of the ‘growing season.‘”

“Greer said there was a ‘discrepancy’ in what the White House has described as the deadline and the actual deadline for the purchases to be completed,” Mangan and Downs reported. “The most recent growing season for soybeans ended in November, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”

“CNBC asked Greer’s office whether there is a hard or rough deadline for China to reach 12 million metric tons of purchases, as agreed to as part of a trade deal with President Donald Trump in October,” Mangan and Downs reported. “An official familiar with the issue said, on Thursday, that the deadline for soybean purchases with China has not changed.”

“‘The reference to growing season refers to the fact that soybean sales for a growing season typically happen between September to March of the next year — that is what we are seeing now,’ the official said,” according to Mangan and Downs’ reporting. “‘The Fact Sheet conveys that we expect China’s purchases to take place largely during the last two months of this year, even if the actual shipments would not take place until later in the sales period for the growing season.'”

China’s Sinograin Sells Soybeans to Make Room for US Purchases

Reuters reported that “China’s state stockpiler Sinograin on Tuesday sold about 323,000 metric tons of imported soybeans, or 62.9% of the total offered, according to two traders, and announced its third auction of the month as it prepares for U.S. imports.”

China is selling large volumes of soybeans from its state reserves, as it steps up purchases from the US to fulfill an apparent agreement between the two countries in late October. https://t.co/9yvut3xez9

— Bloomberg (@business) December 17, 2025

“The auctions come as Beijing steps up purchases of U.S. cargoes following a trade truce with Washington in late October, even though China sits on a glut of supplies due to record South American arrivals and sluggish demand,” Reuters reported. “…Later on Tuesday, Sinograin said it will auction 550,000 tons of imported soybeans produced between 2022 and 2023 on December 19. Traders have said they expect Sinograin to offer a total of roughly 4 million tons in the current cycle of weekly auctions.”