China imported no soybeans from the United States in September, but total imports remained at high levels amid a recent escalation in the US-China trade war, the latest Chinese customs data showed.
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Last month, the world’s largest food buyer purchased 12.8 million tonnes of soybeans – a crop heavily reliant on imports for its livestock industry – with a notable surge from Argentina during a brief suspension of export taxes, according to the detailed customs data released on Monday.
The absence of soybeans from the US – historically a leading, if not the top, supplier of soybeans to China – came amid fears among American farmers of substantial losses as they fail to secure orders from China during this season’s harvest, with trade negotiations between the two nations dragging on.
Long the top client of US soybean farmers, China is expected to make large-scale purchases of the US grain a major part of any potential trade deal.
In the meantime, and in preparation for future uncertainties, China has been stepping up purchases from other countries, mainly in South America. China’s total imports in September were up 13 per cent from the same period a year prior, and up 5 per cent from August, customs figures showed.
Brazilian soybeans continued to dominate, with a nearly 30 per cent year-on-year increase, accounting for 85.5 per cent of China’s imports in September.
