China’s Sinograin will auction 1.1 million metric tons of imported soybeans on January 13, its first sale of the year and the fourth since last month, as the state stockpiler works to make room for arriving U.S. shipments.

The sale, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. (0530 GMT), will offer soybeans produced between 2022 and 2025, the National Grain Trade Center said in a notice.

In December, Sinograin offered a total of 1.5 million tons, half a million tons in each of the three auctions, but average prices and auction clearance rates fell in successive rounds, reflecting weaker demand.

Traders had said they expected roughly 4 million tons to be released in the current cycle of auctions.

Beijing has ramped up U.S. soybean buying despite a domestic supply glut driven by record South American arrivals and weak demand.

China’s total purchases from the latest U.S. crop are now estimated at 8.5 million to nearly 10 million tons, according to traders and analysts, representing up to 80% of the 12 million metric tons that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China pledged to buy by the end of February.

U.S. soybeans remain more expensive than newly harvested Brazilian soybeans, although their premium has narrowed due to a strengthening Brazilian real and weaker U.S. dollar, analysts said.

U.S. soybean cargoes are due to arrive in China in the coming weeks.
Source: Reuters