WASHINGTON, DC – China booked its second-largest single-day U.S. corn purchase on record, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data released on Friday, as the country works to fulfill its Phase 1 trade deal obligation to dramatically increase U.S. farm product imports.
In the Phase 1 trade deal signed with the United States in January 2020, Beijing agreed to buy $80 billion of U.S. agricultural products over the next two years.
According to Reuters, the USDA said China bought 765,000 tonnes of corn for shipment in the current marketing year which ends August 31 and 600,000 tonnes for shipment in the following year.
The 1.365 million total tonnes of corn booked by China was its largest single-day purchase in over 25 years, behind only a 1.45-million-tonne purchase in December 1994, according to USDA data.
China also purchased 129,000 tons of U.S. soybeans on July 14, also for delivery next marketing year, which starts September 1st.
In addition, China booked deals for 130,000 tonnes of U.S. hard red winter wheat and 190,000 tonnes of U.S. hard red spring wheat, the USDA said.
The release of USDA’s next set of supply and demand estimates is August 12th.
