China’s soybean imports from the United States fell by half in March from a year earlier and corn exports also plummeted, as buyers favour more competitive supplies from Brazil’s hefty harvest, data showed on Saturday. U.S. suppliers face stiff competition for global export sales from South America, which have reported plentiful harvests and offer more competitive prices.
China imported 2.18 million metric tons of soybeans from the U.S in March, according to the General Administration of Customs. Its imports from Brazil rose 81% to 3.02 million tons, more than half of the total imports during the month. Total arrivals in March tumbled to a four-year low of 5.54 million tons, according to customs data, as high prices and poor hog margins discouraged crushing for feed consumption. China’s agriculture ministry said on Friday its rising preference for Brazilian supplies depended on market prices.
“China’s soybean buyers include both Chinese-funded companies and many foreign-funded companies. Where companies purchase from is completely independent,” Chen Bangxun, the ministry’s director of development planning told a press conference.
“China is the world’s largest soybean importer and maintains good trade relations with all soybean exporting countries,” he said.
For the January-March period, China’s soybean shipments from the U.S. fell 50% from a year earlier to 7.14 million tons. Total shipments from Brazil were 9.99 million tons, up 155% from a year ago. That brings Brazil’s total market share during the first quarter to 54%, compared to U.S’ at 38%, according to Reuters’ calculations.
Brazil is the world’s biggest soybean exporter, followed by the United States, and its share in China, which buys more than 60% of soybeans shipped worldwide, has been expanding over the past year.