China's state-owned grain trader COFCO bought at least 14 cargoes of US soybeans on Monday, or at least 840,000 tonnes, for shipment in December and January, two traders with knowledge of the deals told Reuters.
The purchases were China's largest since at least January and the most significant since a trade summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea last month.
Eight of the vessels were for shipment in December and January from US Gulf Coast terminals, while the rest were for shipment in January from Pacific Northwest ports, one trader said. A second trader estimated around 75 per cent of the sales were for Gulf shipment, with the remainder from the PNW.
The sales total may ultimately be larger if more deals are finalized, traders said.
The White House said China had agreed to buy 12 million tonnes of US soybeans this year, but only a small volume of sales had occurred before Monday.
China imported nearly 27 million tonnes of US soy last year, according to US Government data. Trump said on Friday sales would be on track by the spring.
"It is good to see the hard work of our US trade negotiators and their Chinese counterparts turning into business for US soy farmers and exporters. We look forward to this continuing as trade lanes are restored," said Jim Sutter, Chief Executive Officer of the US Soybean Export Council.
China had largely shunned US soybeans this season due to a heated trade war with Washington, sourcing supplies from export rivals Brazil and Argentina instead.
The absence of their top customer dragged US soy prices to near multi-year lows this summer and heaped strain on a farm economy already struggling from rising costs for inputs like fuel, fertilizer and seeds. Farmers and trade groups have been working to open new markets for US soy, but those efforts to replace Chinese demand have been difficult.
US soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade rallied nearly three per cent on Monday to a 17-month high on the China trade optimism.
Cash premiums for soybeans delivered to Gulf Coast and PNW terminals in the coming months and loaded for export jumped by 10 cents a bushel or more, traders said.
(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Chris Reese, Bill Berkrot and Richard Chang)