US soybean exports to China shrinks by 97%

The 2018-19 marketing year has dwindled to an extremely slow start for U.S. soybean exports as China holds on to large domestic inventories, the USDA data has said on Thursday.

The U.S. shipped only 7.4 million bushels of soybeans to China in the first seven weeks of the new marketing year, which began Sept. 1, representing 97 percent drop from the same time period last year when the U.S. shopped 239 million bushels.

USDA’s latest monthly supply and demand report shows China has 825 million bushels in beginning stocks that it can draw down on as the country’s importers largely shun the new U.S. crop. China hit U.S. soybeans with a 25 percent tariff, earlier this year in retaliation for U.S. tariffs meant to punish China for intellectual property theft.