May 16, 2011

China's soy imports likely to rise in May

China's soy imports in May are estimated to climb 16% over April to 4.5 million tonnes, the China National Grain and Oil Information Centre (CNGOIC) said Friday (May 13).

This means soy imports this month are likely to increase 3% over the same period of last year. Importing demand is still robust despite ample domestic supply.

The CNGOIC predicted that port stocks, which have already slipped back from a record high in April, will rise again.

The centre noted that soy stocks at ports fell about 800,000 tonnes to 6.2 million tonnes in the first 10 days of May.

The report forecasted that soy inventory is likely to reach 6.5 million tonnes by the end of May despite small consumption of edible oil processing mills which continue to incur losses in oil production.