China’s soybean imports fall in September

China’s soybean imports in September fell 13.6% in the month to 8.19m tons, the General Administration of Customs informed on Monday, October 14.

In the first nine months of 2019, soybean imports from China totaled 64.5m tons, down 8% from the same period last year according to the data.

African swine fever and the China-US trade dispute have been the main factors that have dampened Chinese demand for soybeans since January, said Matheus Pereira, director of ARC Mercosul, an agribusiness consultancy.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China’s pig herd has been reduced by 39% due to the outbreak of African swine flu since August 2018, when millions of pigs were slaughtered.

According to industry sources, the slaughter of pigs in China due to the disease could reach 55%.

China processes 80% of imported soybeans into soybean meal, which is then mainly used as animal feed. As the herd of pigs decreases, the demand for animal feed decreases simultaneously.

So far in 2019, soybeans of Brazilian origin accounted for 80% of total Chinese soybean purchases. However, as US-China trade relations have recently improved, US soybean exports to China have increased, with more than 2m tons of US grain shipped to the Asian country in recent weeks.

China is the world’s largest soybean importer, accounting for 64% of global soybean purchases, while Brazil is the world’s largest soybean exporter.

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