WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said April 11 that private exporters have sold 360,000 tonnes of U.S. soft red winter wheat to China for delivery in the 2013-14 marketing year, which begins June 1.

Rumors of U.S. soft red wheat sales to China had been circulating in the market for the past several days, including talk that China may have bought as much as 1 million tonnes, an amount that has not been confirmed. It was not known if there will be additional sales to China reported by the USDA.

U.S. exporters are required to report to the USDA any export sales of 100,000 tonnes or more of a single commodity made in one day to one destination by 3 p.m. Eastern Time the next business day. Smaller export sales are reported to the USDA on a weekly basis.