b'18American Journal of Transportation ajot.comus lumber imports by ocean carrier in teusOcean Carrier Q1 2020 Q1 2019MSC-Mediterranean Shipping Co. 7696 9289Hamburg Sud 4133 5641Hapag Lloyd AG 3038 3347Maersk Line2247 1996Ocean Network Express1789 1465CMA-CGM 1002 722Evergreen Line689 715Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd512 490COSCO Shipping Lines Co.323 293Seaboard Marine Ltd241 261Chinese buyers have purchased more than 20 cargoes, or over 1 million mT, of american soybeans in recent weeks. Others 1279 1934Totals 22949 26153China steps up US soybean buyingSource: Descartes-Datamyne(PUNCHcontinued fromdamagecausedbyCOVID-with million-ton purchase page 17) 19 jeopardizes the economic backproduction.Oncethatgrowth the industry relies on China is stepping up pur- vest starts. expectstheAsiannationtocapacityislost,itsnotclearto generate sales. And if U.S.-chasesofsoybeansfromtheCropgiantArcher-Dan- buy 30 million to 35 millionwhen if ever it may come back. Chinarelationsareallowed U.S.asBraziliansalesstartiels-MidlandCo.saidthistonsofAmericansoybeansTheChinatradedealtodeterioratebehindapan-to wane and the Asian nationmonthitwasencouragedthisyear,ChiefFinancialofferedaglimmerofhopedemic blame game, it could seeks to meet its pledges underby Chinas purchases so far.Officer Ray Young said in ato the industry, but the pan- jeopardizethefutureofthe thetradedealwithWash- The Chicago-based companycall with analysts on April 30. demicgotintheway.Theagreement altogether.ington,accordingtopeople familiar with the matter.State-runbuyershave purchased more than 20 car-goes, or over 1 million metric tons,ofAmericansoybeans recently, said the people, who askednottobeidentified because the information is pri-vate. The beans were bought usingtariffwaiversprevi-ously issued, the people said.Toptradenegotiatorsfrom bothnationsspokebyphone andpledgedtocreatefavor-able conditions for implemen-tation of the bilateral trade deal and cooperate on the economy and public health, according to a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Presi-dent Donald Trump later said hes struggling with Beijing in the wake of the global corona-virus pandemic.In another sign the phase-onetradedealcouldbeon shakyground,theGlobal Times,acommunistparty publication,reportedthat China may weigh voiding the agreement after U.S. criticism of the countrys handling of thecoronavirustriggered anger among trade insiders. A suggestion to negotiate a new deal to tilt the balance more toward the Chinese side has alsobeenfloated,thehard-line tabloid said.Chinapledgedtobuy $36.5billioninAmerican agriculturalgoods,butthe pandemicthatisthoughtto have originated in the city of Wuhan has delayed the pace of purchases. While the nation has picked up a wide range of commodities from sorghum to wheat to corn and pork, sales of soybeans, the poster child forthetradewar,havenow started to accelerate.Most of the purchases in the past two weeks were for loadingatportsintheGulf ofMexico,thepeoplesaid. Whilesomewereforship-mentfromthecurrentcrop, otherswereforlaterinthe fall when the new U.S. har-'