Private exporters reported the largest sale of U.S.-grown corn to Chinese buyers in nearly six months, with 1.36 million tonnes for delivery this marketing year, said the USDA on Tuesday. It was only the fifth time since 1994 that corn sales to China exceeded 1 million tonnes in a single day.

The sale of 1.36 million tonnes, the equivalent of 53.5 million bushels, was worth $285 million based on prices at the the Chicago futures market. The largest corn sale to China recorded by USDA was 1.937 million tonnes last July 30.

Meanwhile, agricultural processor and exporter Archer Daniels Midland Co. said China bought roughly 200 million gallons of U.S. ethanol for shipment in the first half of this year, reported Reuters. Chief financial officer Ray Young said there were “green shoots of recovery” for the U.S. ethanol sector. Sales of the biofuel plummeted last year due to the pandemic-caused reduction in travel.