China buys U.S. corn and wheat

• China has bought very little U.S. grain since the coronavirus epidemic hit the country earlier this year, despite the Phase 1 agreement, which includes vows to ramp up U.S. agricultural buying.
• The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday morning that private exporters reported the sale of 756,000 tonnes of corn to China for delivery in the 2019/20 marketing year.

CHICAGO: Chinese importers signed deals to buy U.S. corn and wheat in their first round of major purchases since Washington and Beijing signed a Phase 1 trade deal in January.

The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday morning that private exporters reported the sale of 756,000 tonnes of corn to China for delivery in the 2019/20 marketing year, and 340,000 tonnes of hard red winter wheat for delivery in 2020/21.

USDA also reported a sale of 110,000 tonnes of soybeans for delivery to unknown destinations in 2019/20.

On Thursday, two trade sources with knowledge of the deal said that exporters sold soybeans to China.

The corn sale was the biggest to China since July 2013.

The wheat deals were China's first U.S. HRW wheat purchases since late 2017.

China has bought very little U.S. grain since the coronavirus epidemic hit the country earlier this year, despite the Phase 1 agreement, which includes vows to ramp up U.S. agricultural buying.

But recent declines in prices due to the coronavirus spread have brought prices for U.S. export offerings in line with supplies from South America.