BEIJING: 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.