Japanese buyers have purchased between 150,000 and 180,000 tons of U.S. sorghum carried by three vessels that were previously bound for China amid a trade spat between Beijing and Washington, according to five industry sources with knowledge of the deals.
The cargoes were among roughly two dozen bought by China but left stranded after Beijing announced last month amid escalating trade tensions that it would hit U.S. imports with a 178.6 percent deposit on the value of sorghum shipments.
Trading firms have been scrambling to offload the cargoes to other countries, including Spain, which has so far purchased five cargoes, and Saudi Arabia.