BEIJING: China imported 9.36 million metric tons of soybeans in August, customs data showed on Thursday, jumping 31% from a year ago, as large purchases of cheap Brazilian beans continued to reach the world’s top buyer of the oilseed.
Total soy arrivals in the first eight months of the year reached 71.65 million metric tons, up 17.9% year-on-year, the General Administration of Customs data showed.
Chinese imports from top producer and exporter Brazil have risen as buyers took advantage of lower prices following a record crop in the Latin American country. China buys soybeans to crush into meal for animal feed and oil for cooking. August imports are higher than expected, after cargoes that had been delayed at ports following stricter customs clearance finally entered the country, said Rosa Wang, analyst at Shanghai-based agro-consultancy JCI.
Traders and industry sources said Chinese customs is taking up to 20 days to inspect and clear soybean cargoes at ports, pushing back arrivals of beans in the market.
However, soybean arrivals are set to drop in the coming months, traders and analysts say, after worries about drought in China’s second-largest supplier, the United States, triggered a rally in global prices, reducing purchases by Chinese crushers.
The expected lower arrivals in September and October, just ahead of the peak meat consumption season at the end of the year, have pushed Chinese soymeal futures to record highs.
China’s copper imports declined 5% in August from a year earlier, customs data showed on Thursday, as demand weakness persisted amid a faltering economy and strong domestic production. Imports of unwrought copper and copper products totalled 473,330 metric tons in August, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.
The metal, including anode, refined, alloy and semi-finished copper, is used widely in the construction, transport and power sectors. The world’s top metal consumer struggled last month with a sluggish PMI, a worsening property slump deepened by the debt crisis of its leading property developer Country Garden’s.
Also weighing down demand for copper imports was rising domestic output this year. Last month saw China’s refined copper output jump 15.5% on-year to a record high of 989,000 tons, beating expectation by a slight amount, according to local information provider Shanghai Metals Market (SMM).
Strong domestic output prompted firm demand for raw material imports. China’s imports of copper ore and concentrate, which stood at 2.7 million tons in August, up 10.9% from August 2022 and a historic high. In the first eight months of 2023, China’s copper imports fell 10% to 3.51 million metric tons, compared with a year-earlier, the customs data showed.
Whereas, China’s crude oil imports in August surged by 30.9% from a year earlier, customs data showed on Thursday, as refiners built inventories and increased processing to benefit from higher profits from exporting fuel.
Shipments last month to the world’s biggest oil importer were 52.8 million metric tons, or 12.43 million barrels per day (bpd), the data from the General Administration of Customs showed. In line with much of the rest of this year, the figures were significantly above the 9.50 million bpd imported in August last year, when China’s domestic fuel demand was suppressed by widespread curbs to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
Crude imports jumped 20.8% from July’s figure of 10.29 million bpd, returning to just below the daily level in June. While domestic demand for some transport fuels such as kerosene and gasoline was expected to remain relatively strong through the summer travel season, the broader outlook for China’s economy remains gloomy, with a weaker property sector and sluggish domestic consumption weighing on fuel demand.
The poor macroeconomic backdrop, combined with robust refinery runs, indicated that China has built product inventories through the month, analysts said. “China has built up not only its crude oil stocks, but also its petroleum product stocks, particularly diesel,” analysts from Citi said in a client note.
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