China not expecting any soybean supply problems in short term, agriculture ministry says
Bulk of China’s imports in first half of year will come from South America, but situation will be continuously monitored
China’s agriculture ministry said on Tuesday it expects soybean supplies to be “basically normal” in the short-term after Beijing proposed a 25 per cent tariff on US imports, but will monitor the impact for the rest of the year.
In its first official comment on the issue, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in its monthly crop report that South America is the main supplier to China during the first part of the year.
However, “further developments and the impact on supply and demand for the whole year must continue to be monitored”, it said, in an acknowledgement of the planned 25 per cent tariff on soybeans from the United States, China’s second-largest supplier.
The proposed tariffs are in retaliation for recent aggressive US trade actions amid an escalating trade dispute between the world’s top two economies.
China imports about US$40 billion worth of soybeans a year, which are crushed to make meal for use in animal food and oil for cooking. About a third of its imports come from the US.
