China soybean stocks spike as crush volume shrinks

Soybean stocks in China rose sharply last week to the highest level since February 2019 as crush volumes fell back amid an influx if imports, according to China’s National Grain and Oil Information Centre (CNGOIC).

Soybean stocks rose more than 6% up on the week to 7.39 million mt as the crush fell by 4% to 1.95 million mt, data from the CNGOIC showed.

Despite the lower crush, soybean imports in September are expected to hit around 8.5 million mt, up 3.7% compared with 8.2 million mt imported during the same month last year.

Slower crushing activities also meant lower output of soymeal and soyoil, with stocks for both products down last week due to strong demand.

“Soymeal output decreased. Feed and animal farming companies’ procurement pace accelerated, so soymeal stocks fell from a high level,” CNGOIC said in its weekly report.

Soymeal stocks were down 40,000 mt to 1.19 million mt on the week, but were up 230,000 mt on the month and 380,000 mt on the year.

Soyoil stocks were down 30,000 mt to 1,29 million mt last week, but 30,000 mt higher on the same week last month.