By Naveen Thukral, Ella Cao and Mei Mei Chu
SINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese language soybean processors have turned to competitively priced Brazilian cargoes as a substitute of U.S. oilseeds, amid fears Washington will impose import tariffs after President-elect Donald Trump takes workplace on Jan. 20.
Worries about revived commerce tensions throughout Trump’s second administration have already disrupted commerce flows to China, the world’s largest agricultural items importer, prompting patrons to stockpile inventories and search different suppliers.
Chinese language processors have secured almost all of their cargoes from Brazil for first quarter cargo, in response to three commerce sources.
Final yr, Brazil accounted for 54% of Chinese language first quarter soybean imports, whereas the U.S. provided 38%. China takes greater than 60% of the soybeans shipped worldwide.
“Chinese crushers are now booking Brazilian cargoes for February and March shipment,” stated a dealer in Singapore. “Both state-owned and private crushers, all of them are taking Brazilian beans. It is a 100% shift to Brazil.”
Trump has threatened tariffs of 10% to 60% on items from China, which might in all probability immediate retaliatory Chinese language duties on U.S. farm merchandise.
In 2018, throughout Trump’s first time period, the U.S. and China engaged in tit-for-tat tariffs that led Beijing to take everlasting steps to cut back its reliance on American farm items.
The share of China’s soybean imports from the US dropped to 18% within the first 11 months of 2024, from 40% in the entire of 2016, whereas Brazil’s share grew to 74% from 46%, in response to Chinese language customs knowledge.
South American soybeans, that are harvested early within the yr, dominate the worldwide commerce till U.S. provides enter the market from August.
However this yr Chinese language oilseed importers have turned to Brazilian beans extra shortly and en masse, hitting U.S. suppliers in direction of the top of their peak advertising and marketing season in January.
That is more likely to go away the U.S., the No.2 soybean exporter after Brazil, with 10.34 million metric tons of beans by the top of the 2024/25 advertising and marketing yr in August, the best in 5 years, in response to U.S. Division of Agriculture estimates.
CHEAPER BEANS
The aggressive value of Brazilian soybeans is a key draw for Chinese language importers, merchants stated.
“Concerns over potential trade tensions, especially after Trump’s re-election, led to increased soybean purchases in Q4 2024, with shipments arriving in late 2024 and Q1 2025,” stated Lin Guofa, a senior analyst at Bric Agriculture Group, a consultancy.
“Favourable weather in Brazil and the depreciation of the real have lowered production costs, encouraging further soybean imports,” Lin added.
The unfold between U.S. and Brazilian soybeans has widened amid expectations of a file crop within the South American nation.
Soybeans from Brazil are being priced at $420 per ton, together with price and freight, to China for February, whereas U.S Pacific Northwest cargoes are at round $451 per ton.
Nevertheless, ample home provides are more likely to cap soybean demand, merchants stated.
China’s first quarter soybean imports are anticipated to fall to 17.3-18.0 million metric tons, from 18.58 million tons a yr in the past, in response to the typical of estimates from 4 analysts.
“The main reason was due to an oversupply of imported soybeans in 2024, and everyone is now waiting for the new Brazilian crops to arrive,” stated a Shanghai-based analyst, declining to be named as they weren’t authorised to talk to the media.
China imported a file 105.03 million metric tons of soybeans in 2024.
Whereas non-public patrons flip to Brazilian provides, merchants stated state stockpiler Sinograin remains to be out there for U.S. soybeans, that are most well-liked for stockpiling as a consequence of their increased oil content material.
