Commodity News
HeadLine : China's 2020 U.S. Soyabean imports surged though likely missed trade market
Date : Jan 21 2021
The world's top soybean buyer last year brought in 25.89 million tonnes of the oilseed from the U.S., its second-largest supplier, up from 16.94 million tonnes in 2019. Chinese buyers stepped up U.S. farm produce purchases to meet China's pledge to buy $36.5 million in farm goods in 2020 under the Phase 1 trade deal signed with Washington last January. Soybean purchases were expected to make up half of the monetary target and estimates showed China needed to import about 40 million tonnes to make good on the deal. Besides the push to meet the trade deal, soybean imports also rose as China rapidly replenished its pig herd after it was decimated by the deadly African swine fever during the last two years. Chinese crushers mostly buy soybeans to crush into soymeal to feed livestock, mainly pigs, and soyoil. In December, U.S. arrivals surged to 5.84 million tonnes, up from 3.09 million the previous year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed. Shipments from Brazil, China's biggest soybean supplier, were 1.18 million tonnes in December, down from 4.83 million a year earlier, as shipments dwindled after abundant arrivals in earlier months. For 2020, Brazilian shipments were 64.28 million tonnes, up 11.46% from 2019's 57.67 million tonnes, and almost two-thirds of total annual imports. China's soybean imports in 2020 were a record 100.33 million tonnes. China is expected to import even more soybeans in the new year on strong demand and crush margins.

Source: Agriculture

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