Recently, the oilseed unit of Chinese state-owned Cofco said it had signed agreements to purchase soybeans, soybean oil, palm oil, and other agricultural products from Brazil, with a total volume of nearly 20 million tons worth more than US$10 billion.

The contracts with trading companies, including ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus, were signed at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, Cofco Oils & Oilseeds said in a statement on its official WeChat account.

The purchases were announced at a time when Brazilian soybeans are cheaper than US soybeans despite the tariff reduction announced by Beijing, according to analysts' assessments.

(Source: Dinheiro Rural, on November 11)