Hebei firm inks $3 billion US soybean purchase deal

China's Hopefull Grain & Oil Group signed two purchase agreements with Archer-Daniels-Midland Co and Olam in Des Moines, Iowa, the United States, on Thursday to buy $3 billion worth of US soybeans over the next three years.

The event was held at World Food Prize Hall of Laureates, and the signing ceremony was witnessed by a delegation of government officials and business leaders led by Hebei Vice-Governor Jin Hui along with leadership from the Iowa Soybean Association and the agricultural sector.

China's soybean imports had grown fivefold from 20 million metric tons in 2004 to 100 million tons in 2020, with more than 30 million tons coming from the US, said Li Chengfeng, vice-general manager of the international business department at Hopefull.

Li said his company's soybean imports had grown some 500 percent from 2012 to 5.85 million tons in 2022. "Of these, 3.06 million tons came from the US, and one out of every five ships of soybean deliveries comes from Iowa," he said.

When President Xi Jinping first visited Iowa in 1985, he sowed the seeds of China-US friendship and agricultural cooperation, said Jin, vice-governor of Hebei. Over the years, the relationship has grown, "and I believe this will further strengthen China-US and Hebei-Iowa exchange and cooperation in agriculture", she said.

Suzanne Shirbroun, president of the Iowa Soybean Association Board of Directors, welcomed the agreements. She is a sixth-generation farmer and grows corn and soybeans with her husband.

"Soybean farmers started to build relationships with China 40 years ago. Since then, China has become the largest importer of soybeans in the world and the top market for US soy. That means one in every three rows of soybeans growing each year in the US," said Shirbroun. "Iowa farmers are excited to further our ties here today."

In addition, Chinese company Huayu Agricultural Science and Technology Co also signed an agreement with US company Hy-Line International.

"Hy-Line has worked in China for 40 years and has grown to become the largest supplier of egg-laying hens to China," said Thomas Dixon, global product manager at Hy-Line.

"The company enjoyed 20 years of a close relationship with Huayu to supply highly productive egg-laying hens to egg farmers in China," Dixon said.

Under the agreement, Hy-Line will provide 1.1 billion chicks to China over five years. These chicks will produce 16 million tons of eggs for Chinese consumers.

"In addition, Hy-Line will continue to cooperate to provide knowledge transfer of best practices for Chinese egg producers to increase their output," said Dixon.

Kenneth Quinn, president emeritus of the World Food Prize Foundation, made a special appearance at the event to welcome the official delegation from China.

He recounted Iowa's history with President Xi and shared stories of his personal friendship with many Chinese friends.

The Hebei delegation also visited a local farm and celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Hebei-Iowa sister state relationship with their counterparts in Des Moines on Thursday.

A couple of days earlier, 11 agreements for soybeans, corn, wheat and sorghum were also signed at World Food Prize Hall of Laureates between the US and China. The amount hasn't been disclosed but it's believed to be in the order of billions of US dollars.