Declining value

陈小将

Figures from the US Department of Agriculture showed that in the first six months of this year, the value of US soybean exports was down by almost a quarter.

"China has been buying a lot more from Brazil and Argentina, and just the way the commodities have been moved around has affected world prices, pushing world prices down (due to lower prices in South American countries), so the US farmers had a double effect, losing the market and experiencing a push downward in world prices," Nogueira from University of Nebraska-Lincoln said.

Analysts note how the reshaping of the industry as a result of the US-initiated trade conflicts with China reverberated outward, affecting soybean prices on the world market.

Cory Walters, an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska, told China Daily that if China is buying from South America as part of the fallout of the US-initiated trade war against China, "then that means there are fewer soybeans in the world and … everything changes because there are fewer soybeans to be sold".

Walters said US farmers will soon "reset the acreage", which means they will choose how much of any crop they want to plant and sell. He envisions that some US farmers may plant fewer soybeans next year and increase other crops as global trade continues to fluctuate.