Imports of soybeans from the US increased 2.1 times in the first quarter

Original title: Soybean importsfrom the US in the first quarter (4605, -63.00, -1.35%) increasedby 2.1 times Source: China Times

Original title: Importsof soybeans from the United States increased 2.1 times in the first quarter,and China purchased American agricultural products as agreed

The latest data releasedby the General Administration of Customs on April 14 showed that China'ssoybean imports in March fell by 13% year-on-year, the lowest level in nearlyfive years. "The main reason for the decrease in imports was thedelay in shipments from Brazil, the largest supplier country, due to rain, andthe epidemic situation also affected the domestic demand for oilseeds."The General Administration of Customs spoke at the press conference held by theState Administration of New Affairs on April 14. Li Kuiwen, director of theDepartment of Statistics and Analysis, said.

At the same time, Russianmedia recently pointed out that the Russian Ministry of Agriculture of AmurRegion announced that it will suspend soybean exports to China before June. However,Jiang Nan, a researcher at the Rural Research Center of the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Affairs, told the China Times reporter that from the currentsituation, the suspension of exports to China until June has limited impact onChina's soybean imports. "In April, Russia suspended soybean exportsto China, mainly due to the shortage of soybeans in Russia. In order to meetthe needs of the domestic market, the suspension of exports to China wassuspended. This incident has little overall impact on China's soybean imports.In 2019, China imported soybeans from Russia 73.2 Ten thousand tons, only 0.8%of China's total soybean imports, Russia is not the main source of soybeanimports in China. "Jiang Nan said.

Russia is a new source ofsoybean imports from China, and it occupies a small share of China's soybeanimport market. In 2019, the largest grain-producing region in the RussianFar East, Amur Region, exported soybeans to China only 384,600 tons. Therefore,Zhang Zhen, chief analyst of the soybean industry chain early warning analysisteam of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, also told the"China Times" reporter: "Russia's suspension of soybean exportshas little effect on China. In the past few years, China imported 70% ofsoybeans from Russia. From 10,000 to 800,000 tons, this non-GMO soybean has acompetitive relationship with Eastern soybeans, and it is precisely thatsoybeans in the Northeast last year were abundant. "

In fact, in order toavoid abnormal fluctuations in soybean prices, the “Soybean Revitalization PlanImplementation Plan” released in 2019 involves Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning,Inner Mongolia, Henan, Shandong, Sichuan, Anhui and other places, requiring thesoybean planting area to increase in 2019 10 million mu, the planting area willreach 140 million mu in 2020, and the planting area will reach 150 million muin 2022.

Importshit a five-year low

Soybeanimports fell in March.

The latest data releasedby the General Administration of Customs on April 14 showed that China imported4.28 million tons of soybeans in March at an amount of 11.93 million, which waslower than 4.91 million tons in the same period last year and the lowest levelsince February 2015. In this regard, Li Kuiwen said that the decline insoybean imports in March was mainly due to two factors: First, Brazil, China ’slargest soybean supplier, was hit by heavy rains in February, affecting thelocal soybean harvest and exports, resulting in fewer soybean shipmentsarriving in China. Expected; Second, the epidemic has affected the start ofsome domestic oil mills, and this is also reflected in the demand data to acertain extent.

From the data point ofview, China imported 17.792 million tons of soybeans in the first quarter, anincrease of 6.2%. In terms of China's imports from the United States, theimport of soybeans was 7.814 million tons, an increase of 2.1 times and a valueof 21.88 billion yuan, an increase of 2.1 times. Li Kuiwen explained thatrecent imports of some commodities from the United States have shown goodgrowth, mainly because of positive factors in the trade between the two majoreconomies. At the same time, after mid-March, low-cost Brazilian soybeansarrived in China in large quantities, and US soybean exports to China were alsoaffected. The data shows that the CIF price of croton in April is about US$ 382 / ton, but the price of US beans is US $ 395 / ton.

Compared to othercountries, Brazil, which harvested 65% of China ’s soybean market share lastyear, still performs well in exports to China. According to the latestdata from the Brazilian Grain Exporters Association, under the support of China’s strong demand, Brazil ’s soybean exports reached a new monthly high of 13.3million tons in March, of which 9.9 million tons flowed to China, an increaseof 47%.

The United States, whichwas heavily affected by the epidemic, also said recently that American farmersdo not need to worry. China is likely to purchase American agriculturalproducts as agreed on April 1, which is a positive factor for Americanagriculture. In fact, American farmers are also worried that becausetraffic is blocked during the epidemic, food will not be sold because it cannotbe transported.

In the face of changes inthe supply of international markets due to the epidemic, Li Guoxiang, aresearcher at the Institute of Rural Development of the Chinese Academy ofSocial Sciences, said that China ’s soybean imports are still normal, and atthe same time, to ensure soybean supply, China is stepping up its soybeanrevitalization plan. National grain production data shows that in 2019,China's soybean planting area reached 140 million mu, an increase of 13.82million mu or 10.9% over the previous year, especially the soybean area inHeilongjiang Province increased by 10.68 million mu, accounting for 77.3% ofthe national increase. As of the end of last year, 7 main production areasincluding Heilongjiang had acquired a total of 2.25 million tons of soybeans,an increase of 330,000 tons year-on-year, and the supply of domesticallyproduced soybeans has increased.

Soybeanprices are not volatile

Since March, domesticsoybean prices have risen rapidly. For example, the soybeans in Northeast Chinaand Inner Mongolia have recently risen to 2.6 yuan to 2.655 yuan per catty. Thesituation is very good. Until the last two days, soybean prices havestarted to fluctuate and prices have decreased slightly.

The data shows that as ofApril 13th, Heilongjiang Hailun Haibei traders' 41% protein price of tower beanloading was lowered to 2.55 yuan / kg, down 0.10 yuan / kg from the previous week,or 3.9%; The quotation for the loading of medium-sized granule tower beans waslowered to 2.60 yuan / kg, down 0.05 yuan / kg from the previous week, or adecrease of 1.9%. A week fell 0.2 yuan / kg, a drop of 7.4%.

Liu Xiaomei, a soybeanbroker in Northeast China, told a reporter from China Times that she believesthat soybean prices will not rise again. If there are soybeans, sell them assoon as possible.

(2731, -10.00, -0.36%)

In addition, a large number of Brazilian soybeans arrived in Hong Kong in lateApril. "Brazil soybean exports will not be affected by the new crownepidemic this year, and exports to China will maintain a strong momentum.Exports to China account for nearly 75% of Brazil's total soybean exports, andexports to China will continue to maintain a strong momentum, expected toexceed 55 million tons." Daniel Amaral, chief economist of the BrazilianVegetable Oil Industry Association, said recently. Soybeans imported fromChina currently rank first in Brazil, accounting for 65%.

In China, the importantnews is that the State Reserve soybean launch or will start. According tosources, COFCO has issued 500,000 tons of state-stored soybeans to COFCO forcommercial squeezing, and COFCO has previously issued 500,000 tons ofstate-stored soybean stocks to COFCO to fill the supply gap caused by thedelayed arrival of imported soybeans from China.

In fact, due to theimpact of the epidemic, the arrival of imported soybeans from March to Aprilwas low, the operating rate of oil plants was low, and the demand for soybeanmeal increased. Domestic soybean meal spot prices have risen, and the currentsoybean price has been lowered. More people are worried about autumn after theprice situation. "This year's better planting soybean prices plussubsidies, the estimated harvest is good." Li Guoxiang said that atpresent, Heilongjiang began to enter the spring cultivation period, short-termdomestic soybean prices will not fluctuate too much, in the long run, China'ssoybean prices are relatively stable.

(Source:China Times)