China's soybean imports fall 7.7% in September from a year earlier

According to Business Recorder, China took in 11.88 million metric tons of soybeans in September, making it the largest buyer of the crop globally. Figures from the General Administration of Customs show that volume was 7.7% lower than the same month a year earlier.

The September total also slipped 2.1% from August's 12.14 million tons. Arrivals from January through September reached 86.08 million tons in total.

Rosa Wang, an analyst at Shanghai JC Intelligence, attributed the annual decline mainly to a high base, when trade friction between Beijing and Washington prompted buyers to step up South American purchases. She noted that Brazil moved its old-crop sales forward quickly, leaving fewer outbound cargoes in September, while the new US crop has only just begun to be harvested and shipment volumes have not risen yet. Cai Hongli of COFCO Oils expects monthly arrivals to average about 9.5 million tons during the final quarter of the year.