December 18, 2003

China November Soybean Imports Fall as Soyoil Imports Rise

According to official customs data, China's soybean imports in November fell to 780,000 metric tons from 1.10 million tons.

Traders said the November import figure was also lower than earlier forecasts of 1.20 million tons.

In contrast, November soyoil imports increased to 240,000 tons.

In October 2003, China imported 690,416 tons of soybeans and 101,673 tons of soyoil, according to official customs data.

Cumulative imports of soybeans in the first 11 months of 2003 hit 19.18 million tons, up 87% on year, the report said. Cumulative imports of soyoil stood at 1.54 million tons, more than double the volume in the first 11 months of 2002.

China Securities is a unit of the official Xinhua news agency, and usually gets customs data ahead of its official release around the 20th of each month.