The US Department of Agriculture, in a quarterly grain stocks report, estimated US soyabean supplies as of Sept. 1 at 913 million bushels. That was below the average estimate for 982 million bushels. Chinese firms bought up to 600,000 tonnes of US soyabeans for shipment from November to January as part of a tariff-free quota allotted to the importers to buy up to 2 million tonnes this week, two sources with knowledge of the deals told Reuters.
"China has been on a bit of a buying spree lately," said Karl Setzer, commodity risk analyst for US agricultural advisory firm Agrivisor. Buyers in China, the world's biggest soya importer, booked more than 1 million tonnes in US soya purchases last week, following deputy-level talks in Washington in the largest wave of buying since at least June.