China's January soyabean imports rise 35 percent from year ago

China, the world's top soya buyer, imported 7.66 million tonnes of soyabeans in January, the highest for the month since at least 2010, customs data showed on Friday, as delayed shipments arrived during the month and crushing demand remained strong. Imports were down 15 percent from last month's 9 million tonnes, but up 35 percent from a year ago, figures from the General Administration of Customs showed.
"In the last quarter of 2016, crushers signed many forward contracts due to delayed shipments of imports and domestic logistic problems, which is now shown in the imports data," said Monica Tu, an analyst from Shanghai-based consultants JC Intelligence Co (JCI). "Also as crushing margins are good, demand for imports from crushers remains strong." Crushing production capacity has been rising since late last year, mainly prompted by good crushing margins, pushing up imports, according to analysts.