U.S. President Donald Trump appears with China’s President Xi Jinping at the start of their bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka on June 29, 2019. (File photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

U.S. farmers suffer ‘body blow’ as China slams door on farm purchases

Reading Time: 3 minutes Beijing | Reuters — Chinese companies have stopped buying U.S. agricultural products, China’s commerce ministry said on Tuesday, a blow to U.S. farmers who have already seen their exports slashed by the more than year-old trade war. China may impose additional tariffs on U.S. farm products bought shortly before the purchase ban took effect, China’s […] Read more

CME October 2019 lean hogs (candlesticks) and October live cattle (line). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures swing wildly as trade war intensifies

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) livestock futures swung wildly on Monday, with the most-active October lean hog futures going nearly limit-up and -down in the same trading session, amid growing tensions in the U.S.-China trade war. China’s commerce ministry said that Chinese companies have stopped buying U.S. agricultural products, and that China […] Read more


CBOT November 2019 soybeans (candlestick) and December 2019 corn (line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn futures rally on weather concerns

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Volatility roiled the commodity grain futures markets on Monday, as uncertainty in the U.S. weather forecast supported corn and the growing tensions in the U.S.-China trade war weighed on soybeans. Wheat futures ended the day up on technical buying, traders said. China’s commerce ministry said that Chinese companies have stopped buying […] Read more




Even with exemption, U.S. soy can’t compete with Brazil, say traders.
 Photo: Reuters/Paulo Whitaker

China’s soy crushers in no rush to buy from U.S.

Reading Time: 3 minutes Beijing | Reuters – Despite the carrot of a potential exemption from import tariffs, Chinese soybean crushers are unlikely to buy in bulk from the United States any time soon as they grapple with poor margins and longer-term doubts about Sino-U.S. trade relations, people familiar with the matter said. China imposed a 25 per cent […] Read more





CBOT September 2019 corn futures with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy gain as market wrestles with export, crop prospects

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn and soybean futures settled up on Friday as investors weighed trade talks between the United States and China and expected cooler U.S. weather against uncertainty over acreage levels following a rain-soaked spring. Some analysts said there may be some technical buying pushing up futures, especially soybeans. They also looked […] Read more

CME October 2019 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs top five-week high on China demand expectations

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures reached their highest prices in more than five weeks on Friday on expectations for increased pork demand from China, the world’s top importer. Live cattle futures ended higher after dropping to their lowest prices in more than a week. Hog traders expect China, the […] Read more