July 13, 2009
China June soy imports hit record high
China imported a record 4.71 million tonnes of soy in June, up 34 percent from May, according to official customs data.
Chinese crushers had purchased huge volumes on worries of tight world supplies after drought cut supplies from Argentina, the world's third largest exporter.
Beijing's stockpiling of domestic soy had driven up local prices and led crushers to bring in more cheap soy imports from the US and Brazil. China's strong demand had also driven up the benchmark CBOT soy prices to a nine-month high in June.
Imports for July were also likely to stay high but not for August and September, traders said.
China's Commerce Ministry had estimated the country's soy imports in July at 4.28 million tonnes.
Negative crushing margins coupled with high stockpiles of soyoil have led Chinese crushers to book less for August and September shipment.
Traders said many Chinese crushers has shifted to cheap new US soy for shipment after September.
