BEIJING, Jan 12 (Reuters) - China's soybean imports in December missed expectations with a decline of 6.9% from a year ago, customs data showed on Friday, but total 2023 imports jumped for the first time in three years.
China imported 9.82 million metric tons of soybeans in
December, slightly under analysts' expectations of 10 million to
11 million tons, as longer customs approval times delay some
cargoes from discharging at ports.
For the full year, China's soybean imports rose 11.4% from 2022 to 99.41 million tons, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.
Chinese traders ramped up buying of soybeans last year, particularly from Brazil, to take advantage of cheaper beans from a bumper crop in the South American grower.
The higher annual imports were partly driven by higher demand of soymeal to feed a larger-than-usual hog herd after pig enterprises aggressively expanded herd sizes and industrialised farms, said Rosa Wang, analyst at Shanghai-based agro-consultancy JCI.
The world's top soy importer buys soybeans to crush into soymeal for animal feed and oil for cooking.
However, China's pig herd declined sharply in November after farmers sped up the slaughtering of pigs to overcome low profits, high costs and an outbreak of African Swine Fever.
A smaller pig herd may reduce soymeal demand this year, on top of a government push for farmers to switch to low-protein feed formula as part of food security measures.
China's use of the high-protein soymeal in livestock feed shrunk by 4.4 million metric tons during January-November 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said last month.
(Reporting by Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Gerry Doyle)
