By Karl Plume
CHICAGO, Dec 2 (Reuters) – Shipments of U.S. crops to China are accelerating after a tense tariff war had stalled trade for months, with at least six bulk cargo vessels scheduled to load with soybeans at Gulf Coast terminals through mid-December, according to a shipping schedule seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
A seventh U.S. soybean cargo was loaded over the past weekend and is already en route to China, the first such shipment since May.
U.S. farmers and grain traders have been waiting for shipments to begin after trade talks between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea in late October and, according to the White House, a vow by Beijing to buy 12 million metric tons by the end of the year. Beijing has not confirmed details from that meeting, including any vows to purchase sizable volumes of U.S. soy.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said last month that the Trump administration expects to sign a deal with China by this week. She said on Tuesday that the administration would unveil an aid package next week for farmers hurt by low crop prices and trade turmoil.
Chinese importers booked nearly 2 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans last month for shipment in the 2025/26 marketing year that ends in August 2026, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, although only minimal purchases have been confirmed since then. Total Chinese purchases remain well short of the volumes seen before the trade war. China’s absence from the market had pushed down the price of soybean futures to near five-year lows.
The cargo vessel Tokugawa was being loaded with soybeans on Tuesday, and the vessel Katagalan Brave was set to load in the coming days, according to shipping data. Four others – RB Eden, Hua Xing Hai, Donna Alexandra and SSI Dominion – were due to arrive for loading over the next two weeks.
U.S. sorghum shipments to China have also restarted for the first time since March. One cargo vessel, the Bungo Queen, is currently loading at a Texas Gulf Coast terminal, and a second ship, the YM Navigator, is due to load late next week at a terminal in the Pacific Northwest, shipping data showed.
(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Comments