BEIJING, Oct 20 (Reuters) – China imported 360,878 metric tons of US soybeans in September, up from zero a year earlier, as soybeans bought under a deal to end last year’s trade war continued to arrive at Chinese ports.
• Imports from Brazil fell 2.4% year-on-year to 10.7 million tons from 10.96 million tons in September last year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday
• China, the world’s largest soybean buyer, brought in 11.88 million metric tons of soybeans in September, down 7.7% from the same month last year
• In the January-September period, soybean imports from the US fell 34% from a year earlier to 11.06 million tons, while shipments from Brazil rose 3.4% to 65.84 million tons
• Trade tensions between Beijing and Washington last year had prompted Chinese buyers to delay purchases of the previous US harvest until after an October summit between the two countries’ leaders
• Following the meeting, Beijing purchased around 12 million tons of US soybeans, still well below levels from before the trade war
• China had also purchased more than 60% of its 25-million-ton US soybean buying target for the 2026/27 marketing year, with shipments beginning in September, traders told Reuters last week
(Reporting by Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Jochelle Mendonca)
