BEIJING: China, the world's top soy buyer, imported 34.8 percent less of the oilseed from the United States in November than a year ago, as South American supplies cut into the US share of China's huge market, data from the General Administration of Customs of China showed on Wednesday.
That compared with robust annual import growth of 39.4 percent from the United States in November 2010.
In November, China imported 2.467 million tonnes of soy from the United States, which is on track to be eclipsed by Brazil as the world's largest exporter of the oilseed.
The dramatic shift in market share comes at the beginning of the peak sales season for the United States. China's imports from Brazil were up 92 percent on the year at 1.33 million tonnes, and those from Argentina jumped 87.6 percent to 1.7 million tonnes.
China imported a total of 5.69 million tonnes in November, the second highest monthly import level ever. Crushers increased imports to replenish low stocks at home as crushing margins improved.
In the first 11 months of the year, Brazil had surpassed the United States as the largest exporter to China, with exports up 6.8 percent on the year at 19.8 million tonnes, while the United States exported 18.75 million tonnes, up 0.24 percent on the year. China imported a total of 47 million tonnes in the period.
China's soy imports in 2011 were expected to decrease for the first time since 2004, due to the release of a large volume of soy and edible oil stocks as Beijing sought to cool food inflation in the first half of the year, which had hurt crushing margins at soy plants.
China is expected to import 52 million tonnes of soy in 2011, down 5.1 percent from 2010, according to an estimate by the official China National Grain and Oils Information Center (CNGOIC).
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