- Colvin

China’s decide to buy 1.8 million tonnes of new-crop U.S. soybeans.It shows that the world’s top soy buyer will be active in the market for the next year and the stocks situation could remain tight for the foreseeable future.

Some market watchers have been concerned that the China might curtail its buying on the export market until clearing the reserves it has built up during the past year.

Private exporters reported the sale of 1.9 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China, with 1.8 million tonnes for delivery during the 2009/10 marketing year, and 120,000 tonnes for delivery during 2008/09, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Thursday.

In June of 2008, the USDA reported sales to China of 2.24 million tonnes for the new crop year. China booked 2.092 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans for the new crop year in May of 2007 and 1.752 million tonnes for the new crop year in April 2006.

China’s buying will support soybean prices because it shows demand will be out there even if questions remain about the availability of new-crop supplies.

Tight stocks of soybeans have supported futures prices throughout 2009, even as prices for other agricultural commodities have faltered. The nearby CBOT soybean contract was up more than 15 percent for the year.

U.S. farmers were heavy sellers of soybeans in 2008 as record prices caused them to unload larger-than-usual amounts of newly harvested supplies, leaving them with little left in their storage bins during the past few months.