Soybean futures fall 1.6%, as China purchase barely dents huge U.S. stockpile

• China has purchased 1.5M-2M metric tons of U.S. soybeans over 24 hours, with shipments expected to occur sometime during Q1, the U.S. Soybean Export Council says, with more Chinese purchases likely still ahead.
• The sale would confirm earlier reports of the first significant purchase U.S. soybean purchase in more than six months from China, the world's top soybean importer.
• But March soybean futures fell as much as 1.6% in today's trade to ~$9.18 per bushel, the biggest intra-day drop in a week, after prices had gained in the previous two days in anticipation of Chinese purchases.
• The market is looking for much bigger sales to China to put a dent in the huge stockpile in U.S. inventories that are set to double to a record 25.99M tons, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which reported sales of 1.1M tons to China.
• “We are disappointed with the sales to China,” Ted Seifried, chief market strategist at Zaner in Chicago, tells Bloomberg. “We needed at least 10 million metric tons, we got 1.1 million.”
• China buys 30M-35M tons of U.S. soybeans in a typical year.
• Potentially relevant tickers include ADM, AGCO, DWDP, DE, FMC.
• ETFs: DBA, CORN, MOO, WEAT, SOYB, OTCPK:JJGTF, RJA, DAG, JJA, FTAG, GRU, PAGG, CROP, VEGI, OTC:AGA, FUD, UAG, USAG, AGF, TAGS, OTC:ADZ