China’s soyabean imports from the USA in March increased year-on-year following the two countries’ ‘Phase One’ trade deal although Brazil remained its main supplier, AgriCensus reported on 27 April.
Data from China Customs showed that China had imported more than 1.71M tonnes from the USA in March this year, up more than 13% from the same month in 2019.
This followed January’s Phase One deal, in which China pledged to buy US$40bn of US agricultural goods this year, the majority of which was expected to come from the soyabean sector.
Despite the rise, import volumes from the USA had still been lower than those from Brazil, where a record harvest was underway.
China’s soyabean imports from Brazil totalled nearly 2.1M tonnes, down nearly 25% year-on-year as crushers slowed buying due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Brazil was still the largest soyabean supplier to China during March, accounting for more than half of the total volume of 4.28M tonnes imported during the month.
China’s soyabean imports from Argentina during March had been slightly higher at 336,088 tonnes, up 4% from the same month last year.
