China's COFCO seals billion-dollar Brazilian soybean, palm oil deals

BEIJING, Nov 11 (Reuters) - State trader COFCO's oilseed unit said on Monday it has signed agreements to purchase Brazilian soybeans, soybean oil, palm oil and other agricultural products, with a total volume of nearly 20 million tons worth over $10 billion.

The contracts with traders including ADM ADM.N, Bunge BG.N, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus were signed last week at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, COFCO Oils & Oilseeds said in a statement on its official WeChat account.

The statement made no mention of U.S. farm goods. Beijing has made modest purchases of American agricultural products, including some soybean cargoes bought by COFCO as goodwill gestures amid improving trade ties with Washington.

Despite easing some tariffs on a range of U.S. agricultural goods, China has kept a 10% levy on all U.S. imports, limiting expectations for a broader trade recovery.

Soybean tariffs, for example, have dropped from 23% to 13%, still too high for private buyers.

Traders are watching for any large purchases by state firms such as COFCO after the White House said Beijing pledged to buy 12 million tons by the end of the year.

China has not confirmed the figures.