Ships carrying tonnes of US soy, pork and cotton are still on their way to China – but will purchases be honoured as trade war escalates?
- At least 10 vessels are in transit, with experts saying sales could be cancelled amid flaring tensions
- 7.4 million tonnes of US soy, 468,000 tonnes of corn, 103,000 tonnes of pork and 704,000 bales of cotton have been sold but not yet delivered
As the US-China trade war escalates, speculation is swirling over whether the Asian superpower will honour purchases of American products including soybeans and cotton that are yet to be delivered.
At least 10 bulk carrier cargoes are in transit, while at least one vessel managed to offload its US cargo on the weekend as tensions between the Washington and Beijing flared.
Bulk carrier Fiji arrived in Dalian on Sunday, waiting a week before congestion cleared to enter port. The cargo originated from Export Grain Terminal Longview in the Pacific northwest with 67,113 tonnes of soybeans, according to US Department of Agriculture and IHS shipping data analysed by Bloomberg. China has bought about 7.4 million tonnes of US soybeans that have not been shipped yet, USDA data show.
Another 468,000 tonnes of American corn, 103,000 tonnes of pork and 704,000 running bales of cotton also have been sold but not yet shipped to China, according to the USDA.
“The shipments of the sales on the books have been slow-walked recently,” said St Louis-based independent analyst Ken Morrison. “The risk of possible cancellations just got higher.”