August 8, 2025

  

Chinese crushers secure Q4 soymeal contracts amid uncertainty in US trade

 

 

Chinese crushers sold nearly 2 million metric tonnes of soymeal  to local feed mills on August 5, the biggest single-day sale of 2025, as attractive prices and concerns over Washington-Beijing trade tensions fuelled soybean supply fears, traders and analysts said.

 

Local feed mills booked around 19 million tonnes of soymeal for delivery between October and January, as a lack of progress on US- China trade talks raised concerns over supplies during the peak US soybean marketing season in the fourth quarter.

 

"Domestic downstream soymeal users and traders were active buyers yesterday as China's soybean coverage for Q4 and January-February 2026 has fallen significantly behind historical levels," said Cheang Kang Wei, vice president of StoneX in Singapore.

 

"This shortfall is mainly attributed to the ongoing US- China trade conflict."

 

Sales on August 5 compares with forward soymeal sales of around 850,000 tonnes of all last week, according to Wang Wenshen, an analyst at Shandong- based Sublime China Information.

 

China's leading soybean processing companies such as Sinograin and COFCO were the key sellers, sources said.

 

China, by far the world's biggest soybean importer, buys the oilseed to make soymeal for animal feed and soyoil for cooking.

 

Crushers typically sell soymeal forwards to lock in prices and secure processing margins, while securing soybeans from the international market as their key raw material.

 

"Concerns over an immediate China – US agricultural deal falling through, along with favourable crush margins on the futures market, are motivating companies to lock in profits," said Wang.

 

China's soybean purchases have taken a hard hit amid ongoing US-China trade tensions with the two countries yet to reach an agreement despite several rounds of negotiations.

 

-        Reuters