October 24, 2006

China's soy import to rise 20 percent in November
 

China's soy imports may increase 10 percent this month and 20 percent in November as crushers increased their purchases due to an anticipated increase in feed demand during the year-end, according to analysts.

China's soy import may reach 2 million tonnes in October, a 10 percent increase over the 1.79 million tonnes imported in Septmebr, said Tu Xuan, an analyst at JC Intelligence Co, adding that November arrivals will continue to rise to around 2.4 million tonnes, a 20 percent increase over that in October.

Import arrivals were around 500,000 tonnes for the first half of the month and most arrivals would be seen late in October said Tu.

Increased purchases from crushing companies was due to anticipated heightened demand for feed and soyoil in the fourth quarter, Tu said.

With higher demand, soy prices have risen accordingly. Imported soybean prices were up RMB 20-RMB 40/tonne (US$2.5-US$5) last week from the week before, to RMB 2,500-RMB 2,540 (US$316.3-US$321.4).

Domestic soy prices rose RMB 20-RMB 60 (US$2.5-US$7.6) to around RMB 2,200-RMB 2,300 (US$278.4 -US$291).