China's robust soybean imports have slowed as extreme cold weather in the United States has hampered grain transport and movement of ships at leading ports, Asian traders said on Tuesday. The harsh weather has affected operations at ports on the US Gulf Coast, leading to a delay of more than 2 weeks in soybean arrivals for some Chinese buyers, they said.
"The winter is very severe this year. It is not just the ports, en-route weather is also not good," the head of oilseeds business at an international trading house in Singapore said. The US Midwest, the country's top grain-producing region, last week faced mornings of arctic temperatures, threatening its dormant wheat crop and slowing the movement of grain and livestock to terminal markets.
Earlier this month, officials said fog hampered shipping along the central US Gulf Coast, including the big port of Houston. Galveston, Texas City and Beaumont and Port Arthur in Texas and Lake Charles, Louisiana were also affected. Soybean imports by China, the world's top buyer, jumped 32 percent to 37.81 million tonnes in the year to September, according to the China National Grain and Oils Information Centre.