Brazilian soy exports to China dip 5% in first 5 months year-on-year

According to the National Supply Company (Conab), even with the Chinese importing soy almost exclusively from Brazil, demand from the Asian country for Brazilian soy fell 5% during the first five months of 2019 compared with year-ago levels due to the impact of the African swine flu. China bought 26.31m tons of Brazilian soybean exports during the period, accounting for more than 70% of the Brazilian soybean sales, according to data from the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex).

Due to commercial tensions between China and the United States, China imported more from Brazil and Argentina than the US. Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of soybeans in the world, while China is the largest importer, accounting for more than 60% of global soybean purchases.

Due to the swine flu, Chinese soy demand is expected to fall by a total of 8.5% in 2019 to 86m tonn, according to Conab. S&P Global Platts Analytics estimates a 15% annual decline in China’s soy imports to 80m tons. Conab’s latest report points out that Brazilian soybean production is expected to reach 114.8m tons, 3.7% lower than the 2017/2018 result.

Total Chinese soy imports fall 24%

Chinese soybean imports fell 24% in May year-on-year, according to the country’s customs data. One of the main reasons for this fall is the current Washington-Beijing trade war as well as African swine fever. According to the agency, China imported 7.36m tons during the month, down from 9.69 tons in May 2018.  The cumulative total imported in the first five months of this year stood at 31.75m tons, down 12.2% year-on-year.  Due to commercial tensions between China and the United States, China imported more from Brazil and Argentina than the US.

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