Major soyabean growers in China are expected to expand their plantings by 10% this year from last year’s 3.6M ha in order to rapidly increase domestic supply while cutting the country’s dependence on imports, reports Xinhuanet.
Soyabeans were being planted in the northern Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, Inner Mongolia regions, and the central province of Henan, Xinhuanet said.
According to the China Agricultural Sector 2019 Development Report released on 13 May. China’s soyabean imports had declined for the first time in seven years. The import volume was 88.03M tonnes in 2018, down 7.9% year-on-year (y-o-y).
Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed at their lowest level in more than 10 years on 13 May, as traders showed increasing concerns about the escalating trade friction between the USA and China.
The tensions, along with news of natural disasters leading to a drop in domestic grain production, had led to Beijing issuing an emergency control plan on 13 May to regulate the supply and prices of grains and cooking oil, Epoch Times wrote.
The city’s Commission of Development and Reform claimed the plan would ensure Beijing’s grain and oil supply and prices were within the normal range.
Beijing had announced on 13 May that it would raise tariffs to as high as 25% on US$60bn worth of American goods in retaliation against the USA increasing 10% tariffs on US$200bn worth of Chinese products to 25% on 10 May, Xinhuanet reported.
