Two traders said that around 40 Argentinean soybean cargoes had been registered for export during the export tax suspension this week, most of which were headed to China. These purchases directly impacted the U.S. prime marketing season.

The two Asian traders reported on Friday that a total of 2,66 million tons were registered in November and December. This is more than half of the 5.1 millions tons of volume recorded for all months cited as Argentine officials for the tax-free period. Chinese importers' buying frenzy this week is a new blow to U.S. farmers who are unable to export their soybeans into China, the top market during harvest season due to trade war tariffs.

An oilseed trader for an international firm, which is one of the buyers, said that China had further reduced its demand for U.S. soyabeans by booking Argentinian shipments. China booked 20 cargoes after the tax was suspended, according to a report on Wednesday. This move was made by Argentina to increase its dollar reserves and stabilize the peso by attracting up to $7 billion of sales. After the cap on sales was reached, the tax exemption was quickly reversed.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, (USDA), China has not purchased any U.S. soya bean cargoes of its autumn harvest as of September 11.

The U.S. critical marketing window is from September to January. Reporting by Ella Cao from Beijing and Naveen Thkral from Singapore; editing by Tony Munroe, Hugh Lawson and Hugh Lawson

(source: Reuters)