China's 2025 soybean imports hit record, fuelled by S. American purchases

BEIJING, Jan 14 (Reuters) - China imported a record volume of soybeans in 2025, as buyers sharply increased purchases from South America amid fears of supply shortfalls if a trade war with Washington persisted.

The world's biggest buyer of the oilseed imported 111.83 million metric tons in 2025, an increase of 6.5% from a year earlier, according to customs data released on Wednesday.

"Concentrated shipments from major producers, including Brazil and Argentina, drove a sharp rise in imports in the first half, helping lift annual totals to a record high," said Liu Jinlu, an agricultural researcher at Guoyuan Futures.

That resulted from heightened uncertainty over imports after the China-U.S. trade war escalated in the second and third quarters, prompting Chinese buyers to bring forward large-scale purchases of South American soybeans, she added.

December arrivals rose 1.3% from a year earlier to 8.04 million tons, Reuters calculations based on customs data show.

DECEMBER NUMBER IN LINE WITH MARKET EXPECTATIONS

China's December imports of soybeans were broadly in line with market expectations, said Wang Wenshen, an analyst at Sublime China Information.

"Delays in customs clearance have slowed the flow of imported soybeans, prompting some crushing plants to suspend operations or curb deliveries amid supply shortages," he added.

Wang expects total soybean arrivals of 7.48 million tons in January and 5.2 million tons in February, as the supply outlook tightens.

On a monthly basis, however, December shipments fell 0.9% from November, which was the third consecutive month in which China imported no soybeans from the United States.

China's soybean imports hit records from May through October last year, as buyers snapped up South American cargoes while largely steering clear of U.S. soybeans due to elevated tariffs.

PURCHASES OF U.S. BEANS ROSE AFTER TRADE TRUCE

Beijing has stepped up purchases of U.S. soybeans following a trade truce with Washington in late October.

Traders and analysts had estimated that, by early last week, China had purchased nearly 10 million tons of U.S. soybeans, or up to 80% of the 12 million that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China had pledged to buy by the end of February.

The state stockpiler has run four auctions since December, in an apparent bid to free up storage for U.S. soybean shipments expected in coming weeks.

(Reporting by Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Tom Hogue and Clarence Fernandez)

By Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson