March 22, 2007

China February soybean imports at 1.18 million tonnes; up 5.3 percent on-year

China's soybean imports in February rose 5.3 percent on-year to 1.18 million tonnes, the General Administration of Customs said Thursday.

In the January-February period, soybean imports rose 28.5 percent to 3.61 million tonnes.

China is the world's biggest importer of soybean and gets most of its supplies from the US, Brazil and Argentina, the world's leading soybean producers.

In February, the country also imported 175,053 tonnes of soy oil, up 18 percent from the year-earlier period. China also imported 349,814 tonnes of palm oil in February, up 19.5 percent on-year. China's February wheat imports totalled 45,445 tonnes, representing an on-year upsurge of 1873.2 percent.

Corn exports in February totalled 770,248 tonnes, down 23.4 percent on-year.