China expects higher soybean, corn imports for 2019-20 on rise in U.S. cargoes

China said on Friday that it predicted higher corn and soybean imports for 2019/20, as the country was expected to step up purchases from the United States to fulfill the Phase 1 trade deal.

Corn imports for the crop year that ends in September are now seen at 6 million tonnes, up 2 million tonnes from last month's forecast, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in its monthly crop report.

The ministry also raised its forecast for China's 2019/20 soybean imports to 94 million tonnes, up 3 million tonnes from its estimate in the previous month, according to the monthly Chinese Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (CASDE).

(Reporting by Hallie Gu and Dominique Patton; editing by David Evans)