January 8, 2008

China plans to import soy, soyoil to curb price rise
 

China plans to import 1.1 million tonnes of soy and 73,000 tonnes of soyoil to curb rising domestic prices, a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday (January 8, 2008).

This is the latest move by the government to control inflation, which hit an 11-year high of 6.9 percent in November, driven up by food inflation of 18.2 percent.

The government plans to sign the import contracts through COFCO, a major grain trader, the person said, adding the soy and soyoil will be released to the market during Lunar New Year in early February and the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference meetings in early March to meet domestic demand.