Sinograin to auction imported soybeans as China prepares for US shipments

BEIJING, July 28 (Reuters) - China's Sinograin said on Tuesday it will auction about half a million metric tons of imported soybeans on Friday, its first sale of that size since January, as the market expects the state stockpiler to free up space for incoming U.S. soybeans.

The sale, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. (0530 GMT), will offer 504,000 metric tons of soybeans produced between 2022-2025, according to a notice released by the National Grain Trade Centre.

"The auction is likely intended to free up storage space for the planned purchase of 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans," said Johnny Xiang, founder of AgRadar Consulting.

The market expects China to auction around 500,000 metric tons of imported soybeans each week in the coming weeks, an Asian trader said.

Chinese buyers delayed purchases of soybeans from last year's U.S. harvest until an October summit between the two countries' leaders helped ease trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.

State traders COFCO and Sinograin subsequently bought about 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans.

China also began buying new-crop U.S. soybeans after a May 14-15 summit this year between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, which left unchanged China's commitment to purchase 25 million metric tons of soybeans annually through 2028.