Decrease in import of edible oils in China but increase in soybean imports

11-Sep-2024 05:53 PM

Shanghai. The latest data from China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) shows that vegetable oil imports fell by 1.7 percent to 6.34 lakh tonnes during August as compared to July, as demand for it in the food processing industry remained weak and supply from domestic sources improved.

According to the available data, during the first eight months of the current year i.e. January-August 2024, import of edible oil in China declined to 47.60 lakh tonnes, which was about 23 percent less than the import of 61.8 lakh tonnes in the same months of the year 2023.

On the other hand, there is a good increase in soybean imports there. It is known that China is the largest importer of soybean in the world,

while it is second after India in the import of edible oils. The total stock of edible oils in China reached 19.80 lakh tonnes at the end of August, which was one lakh tonne or 5.6 percent more than the stock available at the end of July of 18.80 lakh tonnes.

As far as soybean is concerned, its import in China was 98.40 lakh tonnes in July, which jumped 23.4 percent to 121.40 lakh tonnes in August.

Similarly, in the eight months of January-August 2024, the total import of soybean there increased to 704.80 lakh tonnes,

which was 2.8 percent more than the imports of the same period last year. At the end of August, China had a huge stock of 625 lakh tonnes of soybean seeds,

which was 45 lakh tonnes more than the stock available at the end of July of 580 lakh tonnes. The maximum import of soybean is done there from Brazil.