US soybean prices jump after Trump urges China to quadruple orders
China, the world's biggest soybean importer, has not yet pre-purchased soybeans from the upcoming U.S. harvest amid trade tensions with Washington, an unusual delay that has fuelled concerns among U.S. farmers and traders as the harvest export season approaches.
"Rapid service will be provided. Thank you President XI," Trump said in a late-night Sunday social media post.
A tariff truce between Beijing and Washington was set to expire on Tuesday, but Trump signed an executive order extending the tariff deadline by 90 days, a White House official said on Monday.
The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade jumped 2.4% to $10.11-1/4 a bushel.
China imported roughly 105 million metric tons of soybeans last year, with just under a quarter coming from the U.S. and most of the remainder from Brazil. Quadrupling shipments would require China to import the bulk of its soybeans from the U.S.
China imports the oilseed to crush it into soymeal for livestock feed. After record imports earlier this year, traders said a glut of soymeal in China would likely reduce Chinese demand for soybeans.
"It's highly unlikely that China would ever buy four times its usual volume of soybeans from the U.S.," said Johnny Xiang, founder of Beijing-based AgRadar Consulting.
It was unclear whether the U.S. secured any commitment by China to buy more U.S. soybeans as a condition for the truce extension, as Trump looks to reduce China's trade surplus with the U.S.
China's soymeal futures fell 0.65% to 3,068 yuan per metric ton on expectations that U.S. imports could increase supply.
The United States faces fierce competition for soybean sales to China from Brazil, the world's biggest exporter. U.S. sales would suffer if China keeps a tariff on American soy, said Gary Vetter, who raises crops and cattle in Westside, Iowa.
"They're going to go to their cheapest producer," he said, referring to China.
U.S. farmers largely backed Trump in his campaigns to become president and said they appreciated his social media post, even if it does not immediately increase export sales.
"He is trying to support the United States," Vetter said.
China's Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
During the first Trump administration, a trade war with China hurt U.S. soybean growers as China shifted purchases toward Brazil. In the years since, China has looked to ramp up crop imports from South America and is developing a port in Chancay, Peru.
Under the Phase One trade deal that China signed to end the trade war, Beijing agreed to boost purchases of U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans. However, Beijing fell far short of meeting those targets.
"They certainly don't have the room to buy multiples of U.S. bean imports," financial firm Marex said.
China started importing U.S. soybeans in 1995, and the country typically begins booking post-harvest purchases much earlier in the year. This year is the longest that China has avoided booking soybeans from the autumn harvest since at least 2005, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data and interviews with exporters.
"On Beijing's side, there have been quite a few signals that China is prepared to forego U.S. soybeans altogether this year," said Even Rogers Pay, an agricultural analyst at Trivium China.
Reuters previously reported that Chinese feedmakers have purchased three Argentine soymeal cargoes as they aim to secure cheaper South American supplies.
The U.S. soybean industry has been seeking alternative buyers, but no country matches China's scale. Last year, China imported 22.13 million tons of soybeans from the U.S., and 74.65 million tons from Brazil, according to Chinese data.
"We're all working to diversify away from China, but China is critically important for us," said Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council. "So we've been encouraging the U.S. government to work with China to try and get another agreement in place."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Zelensky makes key demand to Trump and Putin ahead of crunch peace talks
Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that any peace deal discussed between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at their upcoming Alaska summit on Friday (15 August) must include Ukraine. Speaking at a youth forum in Ukraine on Wednesday (13 August), Zelensky said that whilst the 'one-on-one' meeting in Anchorage is 'important for [Putin and Trump's] bilateral track', he stressed that 'it is impossible to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine'. 'I truly believe and hope that the US president understands and realises that,' he added. The Ukrainian president said that he 'stands for truth' and will do 'everything to end this war'. Announcing the meeting last week, Trump said that there would be some 'swapping of territories, to the betterment of both'.
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Shopping for school supplies becomes a summer activity as families juggle technology and tariffs
Feeling nostalgic for the days when going back to school meant picking out fresh notebooks, pencils and colored markers at a local drugstore or stationary shop? The annual retail ritual is both easier and more complicated for today's students. Chains like Walmart generate online lists of school supplies for customers who type in their zip codes, then choose a school and a grade level. One click and they are ready to check out. Some schools also offer busy parents a one-stop shop by partnering with vendors that sell premade kits with binders, index cards, pens and other needed items. Yet for all the time-saving options, many families begin their back-to-school shopping months before Labor Day, searching around for the best deals and making purchases tied to summer sales. This year, the possibility of price increases from new U.S. tariffs on imports motivated more shoppers to get a jump start on replacing and refilling school backpacks, according to retail analysts. Retail and technology consulting company Coresight Research estimates that back-to-school spending from June through August will reach $33.3 billion in the U.S., a 3.3% increase from the same three-month period a year ago. The company predicted families would complete about 60% of their shopping before August to avoid extra costs from tariffs. ' Consumers are of the mindset where they're being very strategic and conscientious around price fluctuations, so for back to school, it prompts them to shop even earlier,' said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, the research division of software company Adobe Inc. Getting a head start Miami resident Jacqueline Agudelo, 39, was one of the early birds who started shopping for school supplies in June because she wanted to get ahead of possible price increases from new U.S. tariffs on imported products. The teacher's supply list for her 5-year-old son, who started kindergarten earlier this month, mandated specific classroom items in big quantities. Agudelo said her shopping list included 15 boxes of Crayola crayons, Lysol wipes and five boxes of Ticonderoga brand pencils, all sharpened. Agudelo said she spent $160 after finding plenty of bargains online and in stores, including the crayons at half off, but found the experience stressful. 'I am overwhelmed by the need to stay on top of where the deals are as shopping has become more expensive over the years,' she said. A lot of the backpacks, lined paper, glue sticks — and Ticonderoga pencils — sold in the U.S. are made in China, whose products were subjected to a 145% tariff in the spring. Under the latest agreement between the countries, Chinese goods are taxed at a 30% rate when they enter the U.S. Many companies accelerated shipments from China early in the year, stockpiling inventory at pre-tariff prices. Some predicted consumers would encounter higher prices just in time for the back-to-school shopping season. Although government data showed consumer prices rose 2.7% last month from a year earlier, strategic discounting by major retailers may have muted any sticker shock for customers seeking school supplies. Backpacks and lunchboxes, for example, had discounts as deep as 12.1% during Amazon's Prime Day sales and competing online sales at Target and Walmart in early July, Adobe Insights said. Throughout the summer, some of the biggest chains have are advertising selective price freezes to hold onto customers. Walmart is advertising a 14-item school supplies deal that costs $16, the lowest price in six years, company spokesperson Leigh Stidham said. Target said in June that it would maintain its 2024 prices on 20 key back-to-school items that together cost less than $20. An analysis consumer data provider Numerator prepared for The Associated Press showed the retail cost of 48 products a family with two school age children might need — two lunchboxes, two scientific calculators, a pair of boy's shoes — averaged $272 in July, or $3 less than the same month last year. Digital natives in the classroom Numerator, which tracks U.S. retail prices through sales receipts, online account activity and other information from 200,000 shoppers, reported last year that households were buying fewer notebooks, book covers, writing instruments and other familiar staples as students did more of their work on computers. The transition does not mean students no longer have to stock up on plastic folders, highlighters and erasers, or that parents are spending less to equip their children for class. Accounting and consulting firm Deloitte estimates that traditional school supplies will account for more than $7 billion of the $31 billion it expects U.S. parents to put toward back-to-school shopping. Shopping habits also are evolving. TeacherLists, an online platform where individual schools and teachers can upload their recommended supply lists and parents can search for them, was launched in 2012 to reduce the need for paper lists. It now has more than 2 million lists from 70,000 schools. Users have the option of clicking on an icon that populates an online shopping cart at participating retail chains. Some retailers also license the data for use on their websites and in their stores, said Dyanne Griffin, the architect and vice president of TeacherLists. The typical number of items teacher request has remained fairly steady at around 17 since the end of the coronavirus pandemic, Griffin said. 'The new items that had come on the list, you know, in the last four or five years are more the tech side. Everybody needs headphones or earbuds, that type of thing, maybe a mouse,' she said. She's also noticed a lot of schools requiring clear backpacks and pencil pouches so the gear can't be used to stow guns. Enter artificial intelligence For consumers who like to research their options before they buy, technology and retail companies have introduced generative AI tools to help them find and compare products. Rufus, the AI-powered shopping assistant that Amazon launched last year, is now joined by Sparky, an app-only feature that Walmart shoppers can use to get age-specific product recommendations and other information in response to their questions. Just over a quarter of U.S. adults say they use AI for shopping, which is considerably lower than the number who say they use AI for tasks such as searching for information or brainstorming, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll in July. Some traditions remain Before the pandemic turned a lot more people into online shoppers, schools and local Parent Teacher Associations embraced the idea of making back-to-school shopping easier by ordering ready-made bundles of teacher-recommended supplies. An extra fee on the price helped raise money for the school. Market data from Edukit, a supplier of school supply kits owned by TeachersList parent company School Family Media, shows that about 40% of parents end up buying the boxes, meaning the other 60% need to shop on their own, Griffin said. She noted that parents typically must commit no later than June to secure a bundle, which focus on essentials like notebooks and crayons. Agudelo said her son's school offered a box for $190 that focused on basics like crayons and notebooks but didn't include a backpack. She decided to pass and shop around for the best prices. She also liked bringing her son along for the shopping trips. 'There's that sense of getting him mentally prepared for the school year,' Agudelo said. 'The box takes away from that.'
Reuters
22 minutes ago
- Reuters
New York sues Zelle, says security lapses led to 'rampant' consumer fraud
NEW YORK, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Zelle was sued on Wednesday by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said the electronic payment platform's refusal to adopt critical safety features enabled fraudsters to steal more than $1 billion from consumers. The lawsuit in a New York state court in Manhattan followed the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's decision in March to drop a similar case. That agency has ended most enforcement activity following U.S. President Donald Trump's return to the White House. Zelle was launched in 2017, and competes with apps such as PayPal's (PYPL.O), opens new tab Venmo and Block's (XYZ.N), opens new tab Cash App. Its parent, Early Warning Services, is owned by seven large U.S. banks: Bank of America (BAC.N), opens new tab, Capital One (COF.N), opens new tab, JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), opens new tab, PNC (PNC.N), opens new tab, Truist (TFC.N), opens new tab, US Bank (USB.N), opens new tab and Wells Fargo (WFC.N), opens new tab. James said Zelle's parent and the banks knew for years that the platform was vulnerable to fraudsters but ignored basic safeguards, with the banks sometimes ignoring customer complaints while Zelle let fraudsters stay on the platform. The result was "rampant" fraud, according to the complaint. Typical scams involved hacking into users' accounts and making unauthorized transfers, convincing users to send money for nonexistent goods and services, and impersonating banks, government offices and utilities. James said one victim was told his electricity would be shut off unless he paid Con Edison $1,477 via Zelle, to an account named "Coned Billing." The lawsuit seeks to require Zelle to beef up its anti-fraud protections, and pay restitution and damages to defrauded New Yorkers. "No one should be left to fend for themselves after falling victim to a scam," James said in a statement. Early Warning Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The banks were not named as defendants. James sued Capital One in May for allegedly cheating savings depositors out of millions of dollars in interest, and in June settled claims against MoneyGram over remittance transfer lapses. The CFPB abandoned similar cases earlier in the year.
