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China To Buy $5.3 Billion In U.S. Soy

Matt Brooks/NET News file photo

China will buy 13-point-eight metric tons of U.S soybeans this year, worth about $5.3 million.  Twenty-four contracts making that official were signed today in downtown Des Moines. 

This year’s Iowa soybean harvest is expected to be strong, and Laura Foell welcomes this news.  She and her husband farm 900 acres near the Sac county town of Schaller. She’s also the chairwoman of the U.S. Soybean Export Council.

“Even though, we’re going to have a bumper crop, we’re going to be able to find a home for all of those soybeans,” she said.  “Last year we had 62 percent of our soybeans exported, 25 percent of all U.S. soybeans went to China.

Exports from Iowa to China are up 63 percent in the past year, making it the state’s third-largest export partner.

Earlier this week, Chinese president Xi Jinping toured the U.S..  He met with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad in Seattle.