China's soybean imports from the U.S. dropped 63% in July from a year earlier while shipments from Brazil, its top supplier, grew 32%, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.
According to a Reuters report, a bumper crop and lower prices from Brazil spurred the increase of imports from the country.
The customs data showed China, the world’s top buyer of soybeans, imported 142,150 metric tons of the oilseed from the U.S. in July, down from 381,568 tons a year earlier. The U.S. remains China's second-largest soybean supplier, accounting for 32% of its total soybean imports. For the January-to-July period, soybean shipments from the U.S. rose 10.8% year-on-year to 19.85 million tons.
China’s soybean imports from Brazil rose 32.4% in July from a year earlier to 9.23 million tons, as Chinese buyers took advantage of lower prices.
From January to July, China imported 38.9 million metric tons from Brazil, up 12.2% on year. Brazil accounted for 62.4% of China’s soybean imports year to date.
