China is picking up soybean cargoes in Brazil, dashing hopes for big American sales immediately after a partial trade deal is signed with the U.S. next week, according to people familiar with the matter.

Chinese firms have been snapping up U.S. soybeans this week, but don’t mistake this as a sign of buyer confidence in upcoming trade talks.

The trade war between the U.S. and China continues to surprise agricultural markets, even delivering an unexpected reprieve for American farmers who have otherwise been roiled by the conflict.

China is stepping up its soybean buying in Brazil as growers in Argentina continue to hoard and the Asian nation avoids American oilseed after an escalation in trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

While China announced it has halted imports of American soybeans, a mysterious buyer has stepped up. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Aug. 7 a sale of 165,000 metric tons of the oilseed to “unknown destinations.”

The Chinese government is in discussions with state and privately owned soybean buyers over a plan to raise purchases of U.S. supplies, according to people familiar with the situation.

Corn prices have been on an epic run. Now, soybeans could soon be catching up.

Chinese state soybean buyers asked U.S. exporters to delay cargoes scheduled for July loading into August, citing limited availability of storage capacity, according to people with knowledge of the situation.