CHICAGO (Reuters) – China booked its second-largest single-day U.S. corn purchase on record, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data released on Friday, as the country works to fulfill its Phase 1 trade deal obligation to dramatically increase U.S. farm product imports.
The USDA said China bought 765,000 tonnes of corn for shipment in the current marketing year which ends Aug 31 and 600,000 tonnes for shipment in the following year.
The 1.365 million tonnes of corn booked by China was its largest single-day purchase in 25-1/2 years, behind only a 1.45-million-tonne purchase in December 1994, a according to USDA data.
China also booked deals for 130,000 tonnes of U.S. hard red winter wheat and 190,000 tonnes of U.S. hard red spring wheat, the USDA said.
In the Phase 1 trade deal signed with the United States in January, Beijing agreed to buy $80 billion of U.S. agricultural products over the next two years.
China on Friday increased its corn and soybean import forecasts for the current season, as the country was expected to step up purchases from the United States.
(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
