Growing view is China will stretch soybean supplies until early Brazilian harvest

Archer Daniels Midland's chairman and CEO said Tuesday during an earnings call that it's possible China may not need to buy U.S. soybeans before early harvest arrives for Brazil's soybean crop.Juan Luciano, responding to an analyst's question about possible U.S. soybean exports to China in the next few months, said there remains a question of whether China will need to come in and buy U.S. beans before Brazil can start supplying with its new crop."The reality is the window is getting shorter, and China is finding ways not to use U.S. beans," Luciano said. Early harvest in Brazil could make it so China doesn't need to shift to the U.S., he added. "Maybe China will hold off buying beans until they can overlap with Brazil."Luciano's comment reiterates a similar take last week by Bunge Ltd. CEO Soren Schroder who also told analysts China has lowered protein inclusion in livestock meal and China could "wiggle through into new-crop supplies in Brazil" and supply themselves with Brazil and Argentina "without having to return to the U.S. in case there is no resolution to the trade situation."Those views come after USDA's office in China lowered China's overall soybean import estimate 9.5% to 85 million metric tons.