COFCO has signed multi-billion dollar deals to purchase Brazilian soybeans and edible oils

The oilseeds division of the Chinese corporation COFCO announced the signing of agreements to purchase nearly 20 million tonnes of Brazilian soybeans, soybean oil, palm oil, and other agricultural products worth over $10 billion, Reuters reports.

Contracts with traders including ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus were signed last week at the China International Expo in Shanghai, according to a statement from COFCO Oils & Oilseeds on its official WeChat account.

The statement did not mention agricultural products originating in the United States. China previously purchased several shipments of American agricultural products, including soybeans and wheat, as a gesture of goodwill amid improving trade relations with the United States.

Despite reducing tariffs on several US agricultural products, China maintained a 10% tariff on all US imports, limiting expectations for a broader recovery in trade between the two countries. For example, import duties on soybeans have been reduced from 23% to 13%, but are still too high for private importers.

Traders are monitoring large purchases by state-owned companies like COFCO after the White House announced that Beijing had committed to purchasing 12 million tons of soybeans by the end of the year. China has not confirmed this information.

Tags: China, soybean oil, COFCO, Brazil, soybean