BEIJING: China’s May soybean imports from Brazil jumped 82% from the previous month, bolstered by the arrival of cargoes due to land earlier but delayed by rains, customs data showed on Sunday.

China, the world’s top importer of soybeans, brought in 9.23 million tonnes of soybeans from the South American country in May, up from 5.08 million tonnes in April, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

May imports were also up from 8.86 million tonnes imported from China’s top soybean supplier a year ago.

China bought 244,431 tonnes of soybeans from the United States in May, down 50% from 491,700 tonnes a year ago. Shipments were down 89% from 2.15 million tonnes in April, customs data showed. For the first five months of the year, China brought in 15.66 million tonnes of Brazilian beans, down from 22.04 million tonnes in the same period of last year.