US soy exports to China grow

China’s soybean imports from the US have accelerated in May with a 156% surge compared to 2024, while supplies from Brazil shrank for the first time in 2024 amid flooding disruption in the South American countryside.

The world’s biggest soybean buyer (China) imported 1.27 million t of the oilseed from the US in May, compared with 494 103 t in the same month in 2023, showed data from the General Administration of Customs.

That was still considerably less than imports from Brazil which were at 8.8 million t, which made up the majority of the 10.22 million t of soybeans China imported in May.

Sales of US soybeans to China have been sluggish in 2024 as traders took advantage of cheaper and plentiful Brazilian soybeans. Nonetheless, May arrivals from Brazil still dropped 19% from 2023.

Brazil’s soy harvest season, which began around March has nearly finished, according to the Brazilian national crop agency. The agency slightly lowered Brazil’s soy production forecast after unprecedented rain in the southern part of the country damaged some of the crop with flooding.

For January-May, shipments from Brazil totalled 24.71 million t, up 23% compared with the same period in 2023.

Total arrivals from the US in the first five months of 2024 came to 10.85 million t, down 34% compared to 2023, according to the data.

China imported 212 492 t of soybeans from Argentina in the first five months of 2024, though the data showed no arrivals in May.

Source: Dry Bulk

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