From January to October 2024, China imported 138 million tons of grain, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%

On November 7th, the General Administration of Customs released the latest data: the cumulative import of grain in China from January to October 2024 was 138 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%; The import amount was 428.13 billion yuan, a decrease of 8.2% compared to last year.

The squeezing profit has improved, and the soybean import volume in October reached the highest level in the same period of four years. Recently, domestic soybean crushing profits have improved, coupled with traders' concerns about market supply next year leading to early stockpiling, resulting in higher than expected soybean imports in October. Customs data shows that China imported 8.09 million tons of soybeans in October, a 56% increase from 5.18 million tons in the same period last year, setting a four-year high and the second lowest level in history, only lagging behind the 8.69 million tons in 2020. In the first 10 months of 2024, China's total soybean imports reached 89.94 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 11.2%. The market expects China's soybean imports to remain high in the coming months, as buyers need to ensure inventory before January.

In addition, from January to October 2024, China imported a total of 5.963 million tons of edible vegetable oil, a year-on-year decrease of 25.9%; The import amount was 43.03 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 29.5%.