Chinese state-owned companies bought at least three cargoes of U.S. soybeans, even as the Chinese government ordered to halt purchases.

State-owned Chinese firms bought at least three cargoes of U.S. soybeans on Monday, even as the Chinese government had told them to halt purchases after Washington said it would eliminate special treatment for Hong Kong to punish Beijing, Reuters reported.

The purchases, totaling at least 180,000 tons of the oilseed, were for shipment in October or November, the peak U.S. soy export season when American soybeans are usually the cheapest in the world, three U.S. traders with knowledge of the deals said.

It was not immediately clear why buying continued after Beijing’s message to state-owned firms, but U.S. traders said Chinese importers still have not covered a large share of October and November soybean needs.

“It’s murky, really hard to say,” said one U.S. export trader. “Maybe they wanted to knock a few cents off the price, or maybe there’s some other agenda. The do need the beans.”

Earlier, two sources familiar with the matter said China had told state-owned firms to halt large-scale U.S. soybean and pork purchases, and one of the sources said state purchases of U.S. corn and cotton have also been put on hold.