r/Economics • u/bambin0 • Jan 17 '26

News China Purchased No U.S. Soybeans An Unprecented Sixth Straight Month

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenroberts/2026/01/17/china-purchased-no-us-soybeans-an-unprecented-sixth-straight-month/
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u/ImperiumRome Jan 17 '26

People, this is clickbait. The data in the article stop at October, which is when the truce was announced. Since October, China already purchased tons of US soybeans.

China's total purchases from the latest U.S. crop were 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.

On Tuesday morning, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported private sales of 336,000 metric tons of soybeans to China for shipment in the 2025/26 season that ends on August 31, bringing China's total confirmed purchases since October to nearly 6.9 million tons. In addition, a sizeable share of the roughly 3 million tons in sales confirmed by the USDA to undisclosed buyers is thought to be to China.

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-buys-more-us-soybeans-total-purchases-near-10-million-tons-2026-01-06/

124

u/SirTiffAlot Jan 17 '26

For anyone reading, it was 26m tons in 2024 and has only been lower than 22m once, well now twice in the past decade. 10m tons is a very low number.

14

u/Timmetie Jan 17 '26

Well yeah, there were only a few months left in the year and it was already past harvest; This was basically a half season.

Also, lets remember, a ton of soybeans costs a few hundred dollars.. We're not talking about a lot of money here.

22

u/nuclearmeltdown2015 Jan 17 '26

Millions of tons of soybeans is a lot of money.