China soybean tracker
How many U.S. soybeans China has bought this year, from USDA's weekly export sales, compared with its pledge to buy 25 million metric tons a year, last year and the 5-year average.
- China has bought 17.1 million tons of U.S. soybeans so far in 2026, 69% of the 25 million tons it pledged for the year (7.9 million tons to go with 12 weeks left).
- That compares with 3.7 million tons by this time last year and 13.7 million tons on average the last 5 years.
- Week ending Oct 8: net sales of 126 thousand tons, 649 thousand tons shipped.
- 2026/27 crop sold to China so far: 11.3 million tons vs 3.0 million tons at this point last year.
Purchases so far this year vs last year (million metric tons)
Week ending Thursday, Oct 8. Purchases are each week's net new sales to China for this and next marketing year, added up from January 1. 1 million metric tons = about 36.7 million bushels. "Bought" includes sales not yet shipped; 14.6 MMT has shipped so far this year.
Under the fall 2025 U.S.-China trade deal, China agreed to buy 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in each of 2026, 2027 and 2028. That's about 920 million bushels a year.
A sale is a contract; the beans may ship months later. Sales can also be cancelled, which shows up as negative net sales. Shipments are on the export shipments page.
China has been the biggest buyer of U.S. soybeans. How fast it buys affects export demand, which feeds into USDA's ending stocks and the price and basis you see.
Source: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Export Sales Reporting (weekly, Thursdays 7:30 AM CT; country detail, soybeans, China). Updated within 15 minutes of release. Export shipments · Soybean prices · Report calendar