China soyabean imports leapt in May from the previous month as buyers scooped up purchases from Brazil's bumper harvest, but were still in line with the same month last year, despite markets concerns over a US trade war. China, the world's top soyabean buyer, imported 9.69 million tonnes of the oilseed in May, up from April's 6.9 million tonnes, but just 1 percent higher than in May last year, customs data showed on Friday.
The shipments - the highest monthly number since July - came a month after Beijing threatened to levy an additional 25 percent duty on imports of US soyabeans amid an escalating trade spat, sending some buyers scurrying to shore up supplies. However with May arrivals seasonally dependent on the southern hemisphere producers, particularly top exporter Brazil, import numbers showed little overall impact.
China imports 60 percent of the oilseeds traded worldwide to make meal for animal feed for its massive livestock herd, with about a third typically coming from the United States. The preliminary data does not give a breakdown of country of origin of imports. "Its in line with our expectations. May is always higher than April, because in May we see large arrivals from Brazil," said Yang Linqin, analyst at Cofco Futures.
Beijing threatened to impose high tariffs on US beans on April 4, sending buyers in search of Brazilian supplies, although these may come in later months. "With trade war fears, buyers should try to buy as many Brazilian beans as they can," said a Beijing-based trader with an international company. Some May imports had been delayed from April to benefit from a lower value-added tax rate. China lowered the VAT on agricultural imports by 1 percentage point from May 1 to 10 percent. Imports in the first five months of the year were slightly down at 36.2 million tonnes, versus 37.1 for the same period a year ago, the customs data showed.