China makes big US corn buy, while trade war continues

04/01/2019

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Larry Dreiling | High Plains Midwest Ag Journal

Chinese importers made a rare move these days and ordered up their largest United States corn purchase since October 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service said March 22, a rare sale of the grain in the middle of the U.S.-China trade war.

FAS said in a report that private exporters sold 300,000 tonnes of the grain for shipment in the 2018-19 marketing year, which ends on Aug. 31.

The grain will be shipped from April to July, two traders told Reuters.

The purchase by China is considered a big win for U.S. corn growers since the Trump administration levied tariffs on Chinese products, forcing China to go into a trade war on U.S. goods. While China is the world’s largest hog producer, it is not a notable grain importer. Prior to the announcement, China had committed to buying just 166,328 tonnes of U.S. corn for the 2018-19 marketing year.

The announcement is China’s largest U.S. corn buy since a 3.6 million tonne purchase in October 2013, according to FAS.

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