China's purchase of US soy sees cutback; boosts Brazil buying

China is seen to cut purchases of soy from the US and increase buying from Brazil in the next few months, said the state-backed China National Grain and Oils Information Centre, without elaborating.

 

The world's largest soy buyer may import more than 4 million tonnes of soy in May, according to the centre in an e-mailed statement today.

 

Imports by the Asian nation and a drought-reduced South American crop have jacked up Chicago soy futures to their highest in almost eight months. China's soy imports in April rose 55 percent from a year earlier to 3.71 million tonnes, according to customs data.

 

Li Jianlei, analyst at Cofco Futures Co., verified that China will not mainly source its soy from the US due to approaching end sales season in the US.

 

Still, "Chinese imports in the next few months will not be as much as in the months of April and May because the animal feed demand will be sluggish until at least August," Li said.

 

Inbound shipments may increase to about 9 million tonnes in the two months, according to the median estimate of five crushers in China surveyed by Bloomberg. China imported a record 13.9 million tonnes in the first four months of the year, according to the Beijing-based customs office.

 

The prospect of large imports may prompt some local crushers to roll shipments into later months, trader Eric Zhu of Hanfeng International Trading Co., said in an e-mail May 19.