China significantly ramped up its buying of soybeans from Argentina this week after the South American country suspended export taxes. “Importers in China have expanded purchases to at least 35 cargoes, up from an earlier tally of 20 shipments, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorized to speak to the media. Most of the soybeans are slated to be loaded in November,” reported Bloomberg. Initial reports early this week said China had purchased 10 cargoes of Argentine beans. China is the world’s largest importer and typically turns to U.S. supplies between October and February. The latest Argentine cargoes number is equivalent to more than 2.27 million MT. The most soybeans China has imported from the South American country on a monthly basis were about 2.23 million tons in July of 2015, said Bloomberg. Argentina’s currency market is now being flooded with dollars from grain purchases, prompting calls for the government to rebuild its stock of hard-currency reserves. The sudden influx of dollars represents “an enormous figure for a currency market that usually trades about $500 million a day”, according to Regina Martinez Riekes, a director at Amauta Inversiones and reported by Bloomberg.
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