China's soybean procurement from US hit 6 mln t in Jan-Feb

China, the world’s top importer of soybean, brought in 6.101 mln t of U.S. soybeans in January and February, up from 1.044 mln t in the same months in 2019, when shipments were still largely curbed because of the China-U.S. trade war, Reuters reports.

The imports were in line with China’s shipments from the U.S. in December, which had surged to 3.09 mln t, 44x the level a year ago.

"Chinese crushers have bought American soybeans in several rounds of purchases following a trade truce agreed in December 2018, and after Beijing issued waivers to importers that would exempt them from extra tariffs on some U.S. cargoes," the report reads.

Shipments from Brazil in the first two months of the year came in at 5.14 mln t, down 26% from 6.916 mln t last year, according to the data from the General Administration of Customs.

China’s total soybean imports in the first two months of 2020 jumped 14.2% year-on-year to 13.51 mln t, according to customs data released on March 7.

Chinese buyers have also bought more Brazilian beans recently to replenish low inventories after the coronavirus outbreak disrupted domestic production.

On March 19, China bought 120 thou. t of wheat and 120 thou. t of soybeans from the U.S., proving its return to the markets.