CHICAGO (Reuters) — China booked its largest purchase of United States wheat since at least 2020, buying 440,000 tonnes of the grain, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed.
The sale comes after China’s 2023 wheat crop suffered quality issues after heavy rain hit key growing areas just ahead of the harvest, analysts said. The sale, announced Dec. 5, provide a welcome shot in the arm for lagging U.S. wheat exports, which the USDA has projected will fall to a 52-year low in the 2023-24 marketing year that began June 1.
The sale is the latest in a series of Chinese purchases of U.S. soft red winter wheat that began Oct. 3, when the USDA confirmed sales of 200,000 tonnes to China, followed by 165,000 tonnes announced on Oct. 13 and another 100,000 tonnes on Nov. 22.
