BEIJING, CHINA — A bumper soybean crop and lower prices in Brazil led China to increase oilseed purchases from that country in July while sharply reducing its intake from the United States, Reuters reported, citing data from the China’s General Administration of Customs.
The data showed imports from the United States declining 62% in July from the previous year while supplies from Brazil rose 32% in same period, according to Reuters.
China, perennially the world’s top soybean importer, relies on Brazil and the United States for nearly all its soybean supplies. For many years, the United States was the top supplier but in the last several years China has depended more on imports from Brazil.
It has accounted for nearly 64% of China’s imports year to date, while the United States has been the second largest supplier in the first seven months of 2023 at 32%, according to the data cited by Reuters.
As part of its Five-Year Agricultural Plan that runs through 2027, China has made increasing self-sufficiency in soybeans and other grains and oilseeds a top priority. However, the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service estimates that China’s oilseeds imports will reach a record 100 million tonnes in the 2022-23 marketing year and will be around 99 million tonnes in the current marketing year.
