China's January-February soyabean imports up 6.1 percent

China, the world's top soya buyer, imported 7.45 million tonnes of the oilseed in the first two months of the year, up 6.1 percent from the year-ago period, official Customs figures showed on Thursday. Imports in February were 2.32 million tonnes, Customs figures showed, down sharply from 5.14 million tonnes in January.
The February import volume was the lowest since November 2008, partly because of holidays during the month when factories shut down and also because of larger imports in January, which rose 26 percent on year. Crushers have increased imports since the Lunar New Year after margins for forward-months soya cargoes have turned positive following the slump of the Chicago Board of Trade soya prices.
Liu Yonghao, chairman of New Hope Group, the country's largest feed mill, said animal feed demand stayed robust because of good breeding margins for pig breeders. China's commerce ministry estimated March imports to rise slightly to 3.16 million tonnes while April and May imports could rise further to more than 5 million tonnes each month.