US Soy Growers Want Commitments From China as Season Slips Away
A combine harvester during a soybean harvest on a farm near Gregory, Arkansas.
Photographer: Rory Doyle/BloombergAs US President Donald Trump travels to Beijing for a summit this week with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, American soybean farmers are in a now-familiar spot: Fields are getting planted when demand from their biggest customer is uncertain.
China met an initial pledge from late last year to buy 12 million metric tons of soy, part of a trade truce between the nations that revived flows stalled for months. Fresh purchases have since gone quiet, just as the war in Iran sends fertilizer prices surging, adding to the strain on growers’ margins.