China is looking to boost its soya output by nearly 60 percent by the end of the decade compared with last year as the world's biggest consumer of the oilseed races to meet rising demand for protein-rich food. The plan to expand China's soya acreage comes as the country plants less corn to reduce its massive state reserves. But the soya output target will be a challenge, analysts say, due to high labour and input costs.
China wants to increase its soya production to 19 million tonnes by 2020, according to agriculture ministry targets published on Tuesday. Output of soya, used to make products like tofu, soya milk and soya sauce, reached 12 million tonnes in 2015. "It is a difficult target to achieve," said Liang Yong, an analyst with Galaxy Futures in Heilongjiang province, the country's top soya-growing area. "Under current circumstances, farmers may not be willing to grow more soyabeans as they make no money from growing the crop." Domestic soya prices have been under pressure from cheap imports, which are about 700 yuan ($108.42) per tonne lower. Cheaper overseas supplies have also prompted many Chinese food companies to avoid domestic soya, analysts say.
China, the world's top soya buyer, imported a record 81.69 million tonnes in 2015, up 14.4 percent on year, official customs data showed. "We will focus on developing high-protein soyabeans to meet demand of soya for use in food," the ministry said on its website The ministry targets total soya planting area of 9.33 million hectares (23.05 million acres) by 2020, up 40 percent from 2015, according to the guidelines. The yield per unit will be raised by 12.5 percent to 135 kg per mu (0.06 hectare), it said.