WASHINGTON, Aug. 8: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s weekly export inspection report showed that U.S. soybean shipments to China (mainland) increased sharply last week.

For the week ended Aug. 4, 2022, the U.S. shipped 249,869 tons of soybeans to China (mainland), compared with 130,733 tons the week before.

That week, the US soybean export inspection volume to China accounted for 28.8% of the total export inspection volume for the week, compared with 23.6% last week and 1.8% two weeks ago.

In the July 2022 supply and demand report, the USDA estimated that China’s soybean imports in 2021/22 are expected to be 90 million tons, which is 2 million tons lower than the June forecast and 9.8% lower than the 99.76 million tons in 2021/22. Soybean imports in 2022/23 are at 98 million tonnes, down from the June forecast of 99 million tonnes.