August 19, 2004

Soybean Crushing Volume in China Remains Low in Early August
 

An eFeedLink Exclusive Report
 

Five cargoes of imported soybeans, totaling 349,700 tons, had arrived at Chinese ports in the first ten days of August, down by 349,700 metric tons, compared with the same period of 2003. Shandong and Fujian provinces received two cargoes each and Guangdong province received one cargo.

The total arrival figure of soybeans imported from January to August 10  at Chinese ports was pegged at 10.8575 MMT, a drop of 2,489,400 metric tons on year.

According to market participants, another five cargoes of imported soybeans with quantity of some 0.3 MMT are expected to arrive at Chinese ports in mid August (from August throughout August 20). Crushing volume of imported soybeans will run between 460,000 and 480,000 metric tons for the period.

As of August 20, imported soybeans are projected at between 2.7 and 2.9 MMT. The total crushing volume of imported soybeans in China from January to August 10 was pegged at 10.101 MMT, a fall of 1,803,100 metric tons on year.

There was no increase in crushing operations in early August due to two major factors:

• With weak soymeal prices, many crushers reduce or halt production;
  
  
• Tight poultry inventory is seen hindering the recovery of the domestic poultry industry and in turn dampened the demand for soymeal.