October 30, 2012

China is expected to import 4.22 million tonnes of soy in October, an increase from previous estimations of 3.66 million tonnes.

The country's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) also predicted that the imports in November would fall to 2.51 million tonnes.

The state-backed think-tank China National Grain and Oils Information Centre earlier predicted that the country's soy imports would reach 4.25 million tonnes in October, and the imports in November and December were expected to be higher than expectations as recent fall of the US soy futures prices would probably trigger bargain buying.

The report is based on importers' shipments from October 1 to 15. The MOC regularly releases its estimates twice a month and the figures are usually slightly different from the official import data released by the General Administration of Customs.

The following table shows the MOC's forecast on China's imports of soybean, soy oil, palm oil, rapeseed and rapeseed oil in October and November.