July 17, 2024

 

China to continue diversifying sources for soybean imports

 

China will continue to diversify sources for soybean imports following the country's first soybean purchase from the United States this year, which came in about seven months late.

 

The move aims to further safeguard supply as the country still depends on soybean imports alongside its growing domestic production, observers noted.

 

The comments were made after the US Department of Agriculture on July 10  announced that private exporters reported sales of 132,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to China during the 2024-25 marketing year.

 

According to Bloomberg, the country started to buy US supplies in December 2022 for the 2023-24 period.

 

China's soybean imports in 2024 are likely to remain stable or marginally increase, with the major sources concentrating in Americas including Brazil and the US, said Li Guoxiang, a researcher at the Rural Development Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

 

Li noted that Brazil has remained the largest soybean export for China due to the strong competitiveness of local soybeans and stable trade relationship with China, leading to a relatively low uncontrollable risk for Chinese importers.

 

Li said that China still needs to import soybeans from the US.

 

In the first five months of 2024, Brazil, the US, Canada, Russia and Argentina remained the country's top five soybean importers in terms of value.

 

China imported $12.56 billion of soybeans from Brazil, followed by the US with $6.25 billion and Canada with $531 million, according to data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC). 

 

Other countries including Benin, Ukraine, Uruguay, Ethiopia, and Tanzania also remained some of China's major soybean suppliers, per the GAC data. 

 

Observers stressed the importance of China continuing to diversify soybean importers as the country still depends on the international market.

 

Diversifying sources will minimise the import risks for China solely relying on a few major importers, as supply may be disrupted by multiple factors, Li said.

 

Li expected major trading partners for soybeans will still be in Americas, while there is potential to further explore in Africa and Europe.

 

Outside of promoting sustainable soybean imports, China has also been ramping up efforts in bolstering the domestic production. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the country will continue to expand the soybean planting area to above 10 million hectares this year.

 

The Chinese government will support China's northeast region to develop the whole industrial chain of soybean processing and soybean-related agricultural products.

- Global Times