Making Sense of China’s Soy Purchases and Demand Last Friday USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said China’s vice premier had committed that country to buying an additional 10 MMT of U.S. soybeans as a gesture of goodwill during the U.S.-China trade negotiations. That brought the total Chinese purchase promise to 20 MMT since the G-20 meeting in Buenos Aires on 1 December. While Secretary Perdue suggested the additional purchases would be imminent, there is no certainty of that nor any indication of when those soybeans will be scheduled for export. The USDA export sales report released also on Friday indicated that China had contracted to purchase 7.534 MMT as of 14 February, which included 7.406 MMT for shipment in 2018/19 and 128,0...