July 31, 2009

China, the world's leading soy purchaser, revised upward for the second time its estimate for the country's July soy imports to 4.82 million tonnes, surpassing the previous month's actual imports of 4.71 million tonnes.

In a bid to help buyers gauge supplies and stabilise prices, China's Commerce Ministry typically publishes updated forecasts at least twice a month which are based on voluntary reports by importers.

In early July, the Chinese government forecasted soy imports for the month to reach 4.28 million tonnes, an increase from a previous projection of 3.56 million tonnes.

For the first half of this year, Chinese crushers bought 22.09 million tonnes of soy, a rise of 28 percent compared to the same period last year.

However, the huge soy imports as well as a record domestic harvest of rapeseed have led to large stockpiles of soyoil, causing most crushers to suffer from negative margins.