MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China back in the market for US agricultural commodities

The new interest in US goods follows China's publication of a list of 696 American products that will be eligible for relief from retaliatory duties imposed by Beijing

China is back in the market for US agricultural commodities after issuing a list of products that will be eligible for tariff waivers, according to market sources. US exporters sold at least two sorghum cargoes to China after buyers bid for supplies to be shipped in the first half of the year. Importers also inquired about soybeans on Wednesday, a day after asking about wheat prices in a move that sent Chicago futures rallying.

The new interest in US goods follows China's publication of a list of 696 American products - including soybeans, pork, beef, corn, wheat, crude oil and liquefied natural gas - that will be eligible for relief from retaliatory duties imposed by Beijing in its tit-for-tat trade war with Washington.

The waivers are further evidence that Beijing plans to stick to the pledges made in the phase one deal despite the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

While Chinese buyers were checking soybean prices, they didn't show firm bids as supplies from Brazil were still more competitively priced, the people said.

Still, there have been some recent sales of US beans from ports at the Pacific Northwest as a result of logjams delaying exports from the South American nation. There were also no deals concluded for wheat on Tuesday, the people said.

China has been buying the grain in France, Canada and Australia in recent months in a sign it plans to better administer import quotas set by the World Trade Organization.