December 10, 2007

China soy imports not to face delays with Argentine move

China's imported soy shipments are unlikely to face delays despite Argentina's move to invalidate soy export declarations made prior to November 7.

An executive with a major state-run grain trading firm in Beijing said that most of China's soy buying has been from the US over the past few months.

South American soy imports, like that from Argentina, were bought and not much remains to be shipped, said the executive.

Earlier Friday, some analysts expressed apprehension that Argentine move could cause some delays soy arrivals in China.

Argentina's House of Representatives voted Tuesday to invalidate grain export declarations made prior to November 7 increase in the export tax, where exporters cannot show they had already bought the goods.

The bill, which now passes to the Senate for debate, aims to prevent exporters from avoiding higher export taxes in place when they actually ship the goods.

Exporters raced to declare export commitments last month ahead of the November 7 deadline, when the export tax on soy was raised from 27.5 percent to 35 percent.

Argentina is China's third largest supplier of imported soy after the US and Brazil.