China's soybean import may hit new record

As the largest soybean consumer, China's import of soybean may hit record high next year since the domestic harvest falls and overseas purchase may rise from 28.5 million tons to 34 million tons in the marketing year from October, said Zhu Yufeng, general manager of Louis Dreyfus Corp’s Beijing office in a conference in Shanghai.

China's soybean could fall from 15.5 million tons last year to 13 million tons this year due to the increasing corn and cotton planting. The harvest is expected to fall to 14.4 million tons this year, according to the China National Grain and Oil Information Center. The soybean oil is estimated to increase only by 230,000 tons, while the import of soybean might increase greatly.

According to the statistics, import of soybean in the first eight months was about 19.8 million tons, up 2% year-on-year. China will reduce soybean import tax from 3% to 1% for 3 months to increase imports. China mainly imports soybeans from the U.S. and Brazil, which may support Chicago soybean prices. Dreyfus will boost imports soybeans into Asian regions because of the high domestic prices, Zhu said.