——The quantity of imported U.S. soybeans from January to June this year decreased by 18.7% year-on-year

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on July 20, China’s soybean imports from the United States in June 2022 surged 13 times year-on-year, while the amount of soybeans imported from Brazil decreased by 30% year-on-year, reflecting the high soybean prices in South America, weakening the Sourcing interest of Chinese buyers.

According to customs data, China’s soybean imports totaled 8.25 million tons in June, down 23 percent year-on-year, reflecting high global soybean prices and weak domestic demand, dampening import demand.

China imported 7.24 million tons of soybeans from Brazil in June, down 30.9% from 10.48 million tons in the same period last year. China imported 773,114 tons of soybeans from the United States in June, a surge of 13.11 times compared with 54,806 tons in the same month last year.

June is usually the peak season for South American soybean exports, but this year, unfavorable weather in Brazil has led to a reduction in soybean production, and the rise in port basis quotations has weakened the competitiveness of South American soybeans, causing Chinese buyers to turn to U.S. soybeans.

However, in the first half of this year, China imported 27.71 million tons of Brazilian soybeans, an increase of 6.0% from 26.13 million tons in the same period of the previous year, because the Brazilian soybeans ordered in large quantities at the beginning of the year have arrived one after another.

In the first half of this year, China imported 17.54 million tons of U.S. soybeans, down 18.7% from 21.57 million tons in the same period last year.

In recent months, soybean crushing profits have been meager or even at a loss, which has waned oil mills’ interest in importing soybeans.

In Rizhao, Shandong, a loss of 682 yuan per ton of imported soybeans is processed.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week also lowered its forecast for soybean imports to China in 2020/21 (October-September) by 2 million tons, from 92 million tons to 90 million tons.