Not only was Friday Valentine’s Day, but it was also the first official day that the Phase One Trade Deal was in effect.
Tariffs on both sides of the agreement officially began coming down.
The coronavirus outbreak is causing concern about China meeting its obligations under the agreement.
An Agri-Pulse report says U.S. experts are worried about whether ports, interior transportation, and soybean crushers are all operating at normal levels.
However, industry sources and USDA data show that 1.6 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans were making their way across the Pacific Ocean and heading to China.
The latest numbers show that 69,000 tons of soybeans left the U.S. and headed to China during the week of January 31st.
During that same time frame, USDA reports showed net sales of 132,000 tons of soybeans to China for the 2019-2020 marketing year.
The numbers show that soybeans are still going to China, even though information coming from out of China is almost non-existent.
Officials point out that we still don’t know any specifics about how many purchases China will make under the Phase One agreement.
Farm groups are looking for more specific information but don’t have any yet.
