According to USDA data, China booked 618,099 metric tons of old-crop soybeans during the week of April 23rd.  This is the largest weekly purchase since December 2019 and the highest quantity for any previous April.  On Thursday, April 30th, China booked 300,000 tons of soybeans for shipment in August and September.  There have only been token quantities purchased amounting to one million tons over the three month period following signing of the   Phase-One Agreement in mid-January.  Traditionally China purchases soybeans from Brazil during the first half of the year and currently Brazil has a cost advantage over the U.S. on currency conversion.

To conform to the conditions of the Phase-One Trade Agreement, China would be obliged to import 40 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in 2020.  This appears unlikely given the lower requirement based on losses in the hog industry due to African swine fever and disruption of the poultry industry during the first quarter.

For the week ended April 23rd, China imported 318,747 tons of sorghum, but has booked only 2.12 million metric tons through September, less than in 2017. China has orders for 881,081 metric tons of U.S. corn for the 2019-2020 market year ending in August. China stated intentions to purchase 500,000 metric tons (19.7 million bushels) from the 2020 corn harvest.