BEIJING: China’s November soybean imports from the United States fell 6.9% from a year earlier, data showed on Tuesday, after low US river levels slowed shipping of beans to ports for export.

The world’s biggest soybean buyer, China, imported 3.38 million tonnes of the oilseed from the United States last month, down from 3.63 million tonnes a year earlier, according to the General Administration of Customs.

US soybean exports were delayed by low water on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, slowing the flow of grain barges to export terminals on the Gulf Coast.

Imports from Brazil, China’s biggest supplier, fell 32.3% in November to 2.54 million tonnes as high prices and low bean crushing profits eroded appetite for purchases from the South American nation. Overall soybean imports fell 14% in November from a year earlier to 7.35 million tonnes, data showed this month.

For the first 11 months of the year, China brought in 51.83 million tonnes of Brazilian beans, down from 56.5 million tonnes in the same period of 2021.

Imports from the United States for January-November came in at 23.01 million tonnes, down from 26.2 million tonnes the previous year.