China Soybean Buying Deadline Now February, Bessent Says

By Ryan Hanrahan

Bloomberg’s Hallie Gu and Chris Anstey reported that “China is on pace to meet its pledge to buy 12 million tons of US soybeans by the end of February, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday, appearing to extend an earlier deadline for Beijing’s purchases.”

“The White House said last month that China had agreed to buy the shipments ‘during the last two months of 2025,'” Gu and Anstey reported. “I will say that China is on track to keep every part of the deal, every part of the deal,’ Bessent said during an interview at a New York Times event.

“Asked about the pace of soy purchases and the time left before the end of the year, he clarified that the target was ‘the end of the season, so I think that’ll be Feb. 28.’ The marketing year for US soybeans runs from September to August,” Gu and Anstey reported. “‘They are in a perfect cadence to complete that goal,’ he said. ‘If I look at the loadings, then their purchase by their central government is well into the correct cadence.'”

More Soybean Shipments to China Loading in December

Reuters’ Karl Plume reported that “shipments of U.S. crops to China are accelerating after a tense tariff war had stalled trade for months, with at least six bulk cargo vessels scheduled to load with soybeans at Gulf Coast terminals through mid-December, according to a shipping schedule seen by Reuters on Tuesday.”