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China Dec 2018 Soy Imports: 77% From Brazil

China relied on Brazil for 77 percent of its December 2018 soybean imports, close to Brazil's 75-percent share for calendar year 2018. China's reduced imports of U.S. soybeans during 2018 slightly exceeded its increased imports of Brazilian beans. No new suppliers filled the gap left by China's shunning of U.S. soybeans during 2018. Overall, China's imports of soybeans fell by 7.5 mmt for the calendar year.

China soybean imports, December 2018
Imported 
from:
December 2018
y-o-y change
Jan-Dec 2018
y-o-y change
1,000 metric tons
Brazil 4,386 2,444 66,082 15,156
United States 69 -6,120 16,640 -16,212
Canada 808 282 1,792 -257
Argentina 187 -453 1,464 -5,119
Uruguay 185 32 1,199 -1,373
Russia 84 -6 816 309
Kazakhstan 0 -2 17 10
Ethiopia 0 -2 18 3
Ukraine 0 184 1 166
Total 5,719 -3,827 88,029 -7,504

  • Brazil accounted for nearly 4.4 million metric tons of the 5.7 mmt of soybeans China imported during December 2018. 
  • December imports from the U.S. were just 69,000 metric tons--about one Panamax-sized cargo.
  • Canada was the second-leading supplier of China's soybean imports in December, but shipments were only 808,000 mt. 
  • Other suppliers during December were Argentina, Uruguay, and Russia.
  • December is typically the peak month for China's imports of U.S. soybeans. Compared with a year earlier, December 2018 imports of soybeans from Brazil were up 2.4 mmt and imports from the U.S. were down 6.1 mmt. 
  • Total December soybean imports of 5.7 mmt were down -3.8 mmt from a year earlier.
  • Calendar year 2018 totals show that Brazil supplied 75 percent (66 mmt of 88 mmt) of the soybeans China imported during 2018. Brazil's share was 53 percent during 2017. 
  • For the Calendar year, China's increased soybean imports from Brazil (+15.15 mmt) did not quite offset the drop in soybean imports from the U.S. (-16.2 mmt).
  • For 2018, China's imports of U.S. soybeans totaled 16.6 mmt, nearly 50-percent less than the CY2017 total. The 19-percent U.S. share of China's 2018 soybean imports was down from 34 percent in 2017.
  • China's CY2018 soybean purchases from Argentina, Uruguay, and Canada also dropped from a year earlier. 
  • China increased its soybean imports from Russia, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, and Ukraine during 2018, but only Russia was a significant supplier. Russia supplied China with 816,000 metric tons during CY2018, up 309,000 mt from 2017.

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