China’s soybean imports in September fell 13.5% from the previous month, customs data showed on Monday, as an epidemic of African swine fever that has slashed China’s pig herd reduced demand for soymeal.

China’s July soybean imports from the United States jumped three-fold from the previous year, customs data showed on Sunday, as cargoes booked by Chinese state firms during a trade truce arrived.

China, the world’s top buyer of soybeans, brought in 911,888 tonnes of the oilseed from the United States, up from last year’s 308,127 tonnes. The figures were also up 48.3% from 614,805 tonnes in June.
 

The US Dept. of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) released its Livestock, Dairy and Outlook for August. The agency showed that pork imports had slowed while more cattle continued to come up during the first part of 2019.
 

 Even though a Chinese trade delegation is visiting Chicago for the annual U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange meeting in Chicago, there remains uncertainty on how much soy will be traded between the U.S. and China this year.
 

Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), said that China is still taking about 500,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans from the “good will” purchases they made earlier in the year. He said the purchases will soon be fulfilled, but then it is uncertain if and when there will be any more purchases.

The world’s biggest pork consumer bought just over 10,000 tons of U.S. pork sometime between August 2-8. Reuters says that was the biggest purchase of American pork in almost two months. The pork purchase is due for shipment this year as African Swine Fever continues to ravage the world’s biggest pork herd. The Chinese Commerce Ministry had said on August 5 that Chinese companies stopped buying U.S. farm commodities after yet another escalation in the trade war with America. Reuters says it’s not clear if the pork was bought before or after the August announcement.

Chinese state media said on Sunday the United States has shipped several million tonnes of soybeans to China since the two countries’ leaders met in June, although U.S. government data shows that the volume was much less.

Pork prices have been sent soaring and herds devastated as African swine fever tears through China's massive pig-farming industry, forcing the country to ramp up imports to satisfy demand—but analysts warn worse is yet to come.
 

Chicago soybean futures traded slightly weaker on Thursday, after hitting the lowest level in more than a week on export data showing China had canceled soybean purchases for the first time since April.
 

U.S. Agriculture Department data showed the world's top soybean importer canceled purchases of 9,853 metric tons of U.S. soy last week as the bilateral trade war remained unresolved.

Wheat slid for a fourth consecutive session as freshly harvested grain weighed on markets across the northern hemisphere.