China Sold a Record Batch of Soybeans Before Mass Shipments from the U.S.
The state-owned Chinese grain reserve company Sinograin has completely sold all 1.1 million tons of soybeans offered at its fourth auction since December. According to traders, this sale took place on Tuesday and became the largest since the beginning of the series. The goal of the sale is to reduce domestic stocks ahead of expected large shipments of soybeans from the U.S.
This is reported by AgroReview
Activity at Sinograin Auctions and Soybean Prices
The auction offered soybeans imported from the 2022–2025 harvests, which were sold at an average price of 3,811 yuan (approximately $546.29) per ton. Major shipments of American soybeans are expected to arrive in China in March and April. According to one oilseed trader in Beijing, some processing enterprises are already experiencing shortages during these months, so they are actively purchasing soybeans at state auctions, although the overall supply in the market remains high.
Sinograin held three auctions in December – these were the first sales in the last three months following the conclusion of a trade agreement with Washington, which stimulated an increase in purchases of American soybeans. At that time, about 900,000 tons were sold out of the 1.5 million offered, but each subsequent round was characterized by declining prices and sales rates due to relatively weak demand.
Purchasing Policy and Soybean Stocks in China
Amid active purchases, China has already acquired between 8.5 and nearly 10 million tons of American soybeans from this year’s harvest, according to traders, which accounts for up to 80% of the 12 million tons that Beijing committed to purchase by the end of February. This was reported by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen. The latest purchases by Sinograin allow China to get closer to fulfilling this agreement. The pace of American soybean shipments has also accelerated after prolonged delays caused by the trade war.
Official data on grain and oilseed stocks in China are not published, but traders estimate Sinograin’s stocks at 40–45 million tons of soybeans — enough to cover approximately five months of consumption.
Conducting auctions helps free up storage capacity for new import batches of soybeans, even amid an oversupply in the domestic market caused by record harvests in South America and reduced demand.