Chinese importers bought at least four cargoes, or about 240,000 tonnes, of US soyabeans on Monday for shipment beginning in July, two traders familiar with the deals said.

More sales are possible as a Chinese state owned firm had sought offers for up to 20 cargoes shipped from July to November from terminals along the US Gulf Coast or the Pacific Northwest, the traders said.

The purchases are the latest in a recent string of buying by China, which vowed to dramatically increase US agricultural imports as part of a Phase 1 trade deal Beijing signed with the United States in January.

Soyabean prices plummeted late last month to the lowest in nearly a year as the coronavirus pandemic has upended food supply chains and dragged down demand for feed and fuel.

China, the world's largest soyabean importer, has been relying heavily on cheaper, newly harvested South American soyabeans in recent months. A strong US dollar and an historically weak Brazilian real has further encouraged buying from South America.

China plans to buy more than 30 million tonnes of US crops, including 10 million tonnes of soyabeans, for state stockpiles in part to help protect itself from supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, sources told Reuters last month.

Sales to China so far in 2020 now total more than 3 million tonnes, but that is well short of the nearly 10 million tonnes of US soyabeans booked by China in the same time last year, according to US Department of Agriculture data.