China's imports of soyabeans in January grew 11 percent from the same month a year earlier, customs data showed on Thursday, as crushers in the world's top soya buyer looked to meet expected healthy demand for soyameal from the hog sector. But while January's imports of 8.48 million tonnes were up on last year's 7.655 million tonnes, they were below December's 9.547 million tonnes. Sector watchers said some cargoes may have been delayed after Beijing toughened soyabean import specifications amid rising Sino-US trade tension.
"Some cargoes delayed earlier by the tightened specifications on GMO (genetically modified) imports may have just arrived in January," said Tian Hao, senior analyst with First Futures. "Usually in December and January, arrivals are large in volume as demand is strong." China buys 60 percent of the soyabeans traded worldwide, mainly from Brazil and the United States, to crush into soyameal used in animal feed.
It beefed up regulations on imports of genetically modified (GMO) soyabeans late last year, reducing the amount of foreign material allowed in shipments of US soyabeans as of January 1. Those tougher rules and seasonally weak demand after the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts on February 15, are expected to push China's soyabean imports down to around 5 million tonnes in February and March, analysts said.
Though they fell into negative territory this week, crush margins have remained healthy since August. Beijing launched an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into US sorghum imports earlier in February, amid rising trade tension between the two powers, fuelling industry concerns that soyabeans might be caught up in trade action.