The soybean (ZSX25), soybean meal (ZMZ25) and soybean oil (ZLZ25) futures markets have been hit by last week’s news that around 40 cargoes of Argentine soybeans were registered for export in November and December during last week’s temporary grain export tax suspension by Argentina’s government, which has since ended. Most of those soybean cargoes were booked by China, which did some bargain buying and is a major soybean importer. In years past, China has been a big buyer of U.S. soybeans. Not so this year.
Heightened U.S.-China trade and political tensions in recent months that have included new U.S. tariffs on China’s imports, and retaliation from China, have put American soybean farmers in the middle of a struggle for global supremacy by the world’s two largest economies.
