China imports less soybean from Brazil in 2021 due to lower demand

BEIJING, Jan 20 – Chinese soybean imports from Brazil fell in 2021 from a year earlier, customs data showed on Thursday, as weaker demand curbed purchases.

The world’s leading importer of soybeans bought 58.15 million tons of the oilseed from Brazil, 9.5% less than the 64.28 million in 2020, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

Lured by high margins, millers increased Brazilian imports in the first months of 2021 to process into soybean meal and feed the country’s pig herd, which was rapidly recovering from the ravages of a widespread outbreak of African swine fever. .

However, grinding margins subsequently plummeted as hog margins fell, reducing appetite for soybeans.

Annual imports of the oilseed from the United States were 32.3 million tons in 2021, 25% higher than the 25.89 million tons in 2020, according to the data.

Under a trade pact with the United States in 2019, China agreed to increase its imports of all US agricultural products by $19.5 billion from a baseline of $24 billion in 2017.

China’s soybean imports in all of 2021 were 96.52 million tonnes, down 3.8% from 2020.

In December, China’s soybean imports from the United States were 6.09 million tonnes, nearly double from the previous month, according to customs data, as more shipments arrived following earlier delays caused by Hurricane Ida. .

The figures were up 4% from the 5.84 million tonnes China bought from the United States a year earlier, according to the data.

Brazilian shipments in December were 2.12m tonnes, up 80% from the previous year’s 1.18m t but down 43% from November’s 3.75m t, according to the data.