Chinese production of soya will drop 3.9 percent this year in its third straight annual fall, boosting imports by the world’s top-buyer of the oilseed, an official think tank said on Tuesday. Limited farmland has constrained the growth of domestic agricultural production at a time of increasing demand for soya from animal-feed producers, with China’s rapid urbanisation driving up consumption of meat, eggs and dairy products.
China is expected to produce 12.3 million tonnes of soyabeans this year, according to a forecast by the China National Grain and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC). Acreage this year is likely to fall 3.7 percent on the year, although that is smaller than a 14.4 percent drop in 2012 thanks to colder weather in the north-east, where farmers shifted to soya after they were unable to plant corn on time, said the centre.
China, which buys more than 60 percent of globally-traded soyabeans, was forecast to import 69 million tonnes of soya in 2013/14, up 10 million tonnes from this marketing year, according to the US Department of Agriculture. China’s rapeseed output is likely to rise 0.7 percent on the year to 14.1 million tonnes, according to the centre. Peanut output is projected to grow 1.19 percent to 17 million tonnes this year.
