China: Oilseeds and Products Annual
In MY14/15 China continued dominating the global oilseeds market, retaining its status as the world's largest importer of soybeans. Specifically, Chinese total soybean imports hit another record at 78.35 million tons (MMT), absorbing 60 percent of total world exports, and 58 percent of total U.S. soybean exports. Following peak total oilseed imports of 83.1 MMT in MY14/15, Post estimates this rising trend will continue with imports reaching 86.4 MMT in MY15/16, and 89.2 MMT in MY16/17. Rising incomes, urbanization and the modernization of the domestic feed and livestock sectors will continue fostering oilseed consumption, forecast at 142.9 MMT for MY16/17. China’s soybean imports are estimated to set another record at 82 MMT in MY15/16 and forecast to reach 84.5 MMT in MY16/17. Conversely, due to a combination of land constraints, policy challenges, and stagnating yields, China’s oilseed production is forecast to decline to 52.7 MMT in MY16/17 from the estimated 53.9 MMT in MY15/16.
