September 30, 2004

Brazil Soybeans Not Among Rejected China Shipments

Brazilian soybeans are not among the cargoes rejected by Chinese authorities for being contaminated with carboxin fungicide, an Agriculture Ministry official said Wednesday.

"Neither Brazilian authorities nor exporters have been told of any problem with shipments," said Macao Tadano, the Agriculture Ministry's farm health secretary.

Chinese authorities for the first time found fungicide in a 60,900-metric- ton Argentine soybean cargo, the Xinhua news agency said Wednesday.

Traders had speculated that other South American shipments had also been barred from entry.

"We have had no problems with China since June," said Tadano.

China rejected five Brazilian soybean shipments from April, claiming they were contaminated with a harmful fungicide. As a result, most exporters of soy from Brazil were blacklisted in the process.

Local exporters accused China of exploiting sanitary regulations to break contracts for Brazilian soybeans when prices were much higher than they are now.

China is the world's No. 1 soy importer at 12.5 million tons, taking produce from U.S., Brazil and Argentina, the three main producers.