China sees substantial rise in soy imports for 2010

China's soy imports are increasing by leaps and bounds, as higher profit margins earlier this year lured crushers to start active purchasing.

 

The China National Grain and Oil Information Centre (CNGOIC) estimated China's monthly imports of foreign soy will surpass five million tonnes in three consecutive months from May to July. The figure will break the previous monthly import volume record of 4.78 million tonnes.

 

 

"More crushing plants are being built, starting operations, or have plans to be constructed at many of China's ports, thus the demand for soy is sure to rise," said Tian Renli, general manager of northeast China-based Jiusan Oil & Fat Co. Ltd.

 

Tian Renli, whose company is a major domestic soy processing company located in the country's major soy production base in northeast China, estimated the country will see an added crushing capacity of 7.5 million tonnes this year.

 

China's soy import volume was only between three to four million tonnes per month during the same periods in 2008 and 2009.

 

"The current domestic soy processing capacity has reached 90 million tonnes per year, unrestrained expansion in processing capacity is behind skyrocketing soy import volume." said Liu Denggao, deputy president of the China Soy Industry Association.

 

Some experts also contributed the increase in soy imports to the decline of imports from Argentinean soyoil this year.

 

CNGOIC estimated China will need to import 46 million tonnes of soy in the crop year 2009-2010, an increase of 11.9% from last year. The figure is the same with the estimate from the USDA.

 

In China, imported, genetically-modified soy, is increasingly replacing domestic, non-genetically modified soy as soy processing companies bid for a lower price.