China imported 5.16 million tonnes of soybeans in October, customs data shows, a 25 per cent surge from a year earlier but lower than analysts’ expectations as Brazilian soybeans continued to arrive at ports later than usual.
Freshly harvested U.S. soybeans usually dominate the global export market from September while the Brazilian export season winds down, but a record crop in the South American country is expected to dominate China’s imports in the last three months of the year. China is the world’s top soy buyer and Brazil its largest supplier.
The October arrivals were lower than some traders’ expectations of about 6.5 million to seven million tonnes. In September, imports of soybeans fell 7.3 per cent from a year earlier.
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