China increases buying soybeans from Argentina, Uruguay in the middle of the US trade war, said the source
Chinese soybean importers increase purchases from Argentina and Uruguay over the next year to fill the supply gap left by the absence of US delivery due to a protracted trade war between Washington and Beijing, according to two trading sources.
The Chinese processor can buy up to 10 million metric tons of soybeans from two South American exporters during the 2025/26 marketing year which ended next August, which will be a record, said a source, a trader based in Singapore in an international company that sells soybeans to China and the second person who trades soybeans to China.
They have ordered 2.43 million tons from Argentina and Uruguay for shipping from September to May next year, the source said.
From September 2024 to July 2025, China imported 5 million tons of soybeans from the two countries, according to data from the Customs General Administration.
The increase in supply from two Latin American producers will add to the big imports from Brazil to China, giving another blow to US exporters as the largest soybean importer in the world to reduce its dependence on US agricultural products.
With more soybean suppliers to China, this country will require less than the US, which will help in the trade war, said the Singapore -based trader.
This year, China has not ordered the purchase of US soybeans for shipping in the fourth quarter, which is usually the main sales period for the United States because of the newly harvested supply to reach the market.
The world’s top two economies have adopted the import tariff for Tit-For-Tat that have taken victims of trade, especially agricultural goods such as soybeans.
In mid-August, Chinese buyers had ordered 1,575 million tons for September loading from Argentina and Uruguay, 660,000 tons for October, and smaller volumes of 66,000 tons each for November, December and May 2026, traders said.
Since the trade war with China in the first term of US President Donald Trump, Beijing has taken steps to reduce its dependence on American agricultural goods to increase food security.
The US supplies 12% of Chinese agriculture imports in 2024, down from 20% in 2016, while Brazil supplies 22% last year, up from 14% in 2016, according to Chinese Customs data.
The second trader said that imports were higher than Argentina and Uruguay mainly because China did not buy US beans and also because the two countries had a bumper harvest.
Argentine soybean harvest 2024/25 is 50.9 million tons, data from the US Department of Agriculture shows, up from 48.2 million tons a year ago and 25 million tons in 2022/23 when severe drought was controlled.
In Uruguay, soybean output was 4.2 million tons in the 2024/25 period, up from 3.3 million tons a year ago, USDA data showed.
Source: Reuters
