November 25, 2024

 

China's October soybean imports from US more than doubled year-on-year

 

 

China's soybean imports from the United States more than doubled in October from a year earlier, marking a seventh month of growth, as buyers accelerated shipments fearing a rise in trade tensions if US President-elect Donald Trump were to return to the White House.

 

According to traders and analysts, tariff threats in Trump's election campaign speeches have led some Chinese importers to shun US shipments starting in January.

 

China imported 541,434 metric tons of soybeans from the US in October, up from 228,253 tonnes a year ago, according to the General Administration of Customs data on November 20.

 

However, the bulk of China's imports for October came from Brazil, with 8.09 million metric tons imported overall.

 

Arrivals from the US have been surging since April, and China is on track for a record soybean import this year due to a rush to stockpile US beans. As of the January-October period, total soybean imports stood at 89.94 million tonnes.

 

Arrivals from Argentina for the month surged to 1.36 million tonnes from 1,077 tonnes a year earlier.

 

Imports from Brazil in October rose 15% to 5.53 million tonnes from last year.

 

Total shipments from Brazil over January-October rose 13.6% year-on-year to 67.8 million tonnes. Arrivals from the US fell 13% to 15.1 million metric tons.

 

China's soybean imports are expected to drop to 98.8 million metric tons for the year ending September 2025, down from 109.4 million tons the previous year, according to an executive from China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation.

 

- Reuters