Moving the Goal Posts China is a critical demand driver for U.S. soybean farmers and they rallied when the White House announced on Halloween that China had committed to buying 12 MMT of soybeans by year’s end, and then 25 MMT over the coming three years. There were ample skeptics at the time. After all, China had just accelerated its November purchases of Brazilian soybeans by 67 percent, a period typically dominated by U.S. suppliers. The economics of China’s domestic prices, storage capacity and ship lineups all undermined the political assertion that Beijing would now suddenly pile on another 12 MMT of American soybeans.  China’s initial purchase of 3-4 MMT of U.S. soybeans helped stall an implosion in the market,...

TAGS – China, Macroeconomics