The Party Congress is over in China and key officials have been selected, including leader Xi Jinping. He received an unprecedented five-year term for the third time.
Xi says the country will strive to achieve the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation and becoming a global power. He also ensured zero COVID-19 policies will continue as well as heightened tensions with the West, especially regarding efforts to force reunification of Taiwan. Arlan Suderman, chief commodity economist with StoneX Group Inc., says there’s concern the strained relationship and COVID policies will hurt exports of U.S. agricultural goods to China, especially soybeans.
China’s soybean imports were up 12% for September, but for the first nine months of 2022 they were down about 7%. Corn exports for the year are down 26%, pork is 61% lower and wheat 13% lower. Markets showed concerns on Monday with November soybeans pulling back more than 23¢.
