About 7.17 million tons of soybeans were imported into China in August 2022, which is about 2.3 million tons less than the same period last year. This figure was the lowest for the reporting month since 2014. This was reported by Reuters on Wednesday, citing data from specialists from the country’s Main Customs Department.
It is noted that China reduced the number of purchases in August due to weak demand for the crop, as well as high world prices, which have risen sharply this year after a drought affected crops and exports from Brazil.
“Imports have been very sluggish over the past three months,” said Darin Friedrichs, co-founder of Shanghai-based consulting firm Sitonia Consulting.
According to one of the market participants, in June the supply of soybeans to China was much higher than preliminary forecasts, so imports decreased in the following months.
In general, according to customs data, from January to August, 61.33 million tons of soybeans were imported into China, which is 8.6% less than in the same period last year.