China decided to raise soybean imports from Brazil instead of the United States because of Hurricane Ida, but imports from Brazil fell 18 per cent in September. Falling demand due to weak crushing hurt imports, according to China's General Administration of Customs.

China is the world's biggest soybean buyer. Customs data show it bought 5.936 million tonnes of soybeans from Brazil last month, compared with 7.25 million tonnes in the same period last year.

Chinese crushers began buying soybeans from Brazil, the top supplier, last year as demand from the pig-farming sector rose. But with pork prices falling in recent months, they have cut their purchases.

Meanwhile, soybean imports from the United States began falling after the damage caused by Hurricane Ida, and the decline is continuing. China bought 169,439 tonnes of soybeans from the United States last month.

Source: Bonik Barta. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.