China June sugar imports down 62.2pc y/y at 140,000 tonnes

BEIJING: China's sugar imports plunged in June, after Beijing imposed hefty tariffs on foreign arrivals in late May and slashed imports permits, customs data showed on Sunday.

China, the world's top sugar importer, bought 140,000 tonnes of raw sugar in June, down 62.2 percent year on year, and down 25 percent from last month's 186,765 tonnes, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Sunday.

Beijing imposed extra tariffs on out-of-quota imports of the sweetener for the next three years in a ruling in May, following years of lobbying by domestic sugar farmers and crushers.

China has also halved the permits for out-of-quota sugar import from last year to around 1 million tonnes.

Imports in the first half of this year went up 5.9 pct to 1.41 million tonnes, according to the customs data, as lower global prices attracted buyers.

China imported 380,000 tonnes of corn in June, up 471.4 percent year on year and up 800 percent from last month's 42,219 tonnes.