One trader with direct knowledge of the deals said total purchases were around 2.2 million tonnes. The other two traders said the sales were similar to three recent waves of buying in which state-owned firms booked 1 million to 1.5 million tonnes of soyabeans. US soyabean futures rallied to multi-month highs on Friday on news of renewed demand from the world's top importer.
But the market's gains were restrained by worries that Chinese purchases will hardly dent massive soyabean stockpiles in the United States and around the world. The looming harvest of a large soya crop in Brazil, the world's top supplier, further capped prices. "It certainly is good to see some concessions and more buying interest from China, but this is a concession in terms of a larger trade agreement. Brazilian offers are cheaper than we are so it's just part of the negotiation," said Terry Linn, analyst with Chicago-based brokerage Linn & Associates.
Friday's purchases by state-owned firms were believed to be destined for China's state reserves, and thus immune from high import tariffs on US beans. The 25 percent tariffs, imposed last summer in retaliation for US tariffs on Chinese goods, remain in place for US soya imports by commercial crushers in China. Exports to China have plummeted this season during a bitter trade dispute, with swelling supplies sending prices to near decade lows last autumn and US farmers struggling to turn a profit.
China has been buying most of its soyabeans from Brazil, which is in pace to harvest a bumper crop in the coming months. Friday's sales bring China's total purchases of the 2018 US soyabean harvest to at least 6.5 million tonnes, a fraction of its traditional annual haul from the United States of more than 30 million tonnes.