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China depends on the global market for 85% of its soybeans and relies heavily on a few countries for its imports. Since 2019, China has laid out a plan to revitalize domestic soybean production, Reuters said. But soybean production fell by 16% in 2021, with some farmers opting to plant more profitable crops such as corn.
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The five-year plan says China will cultivate land specifically for growing soybeans, expand soybean-corn rotation programs and focus on increasing soybean yields. It will also expand the planting and production of other oilseeds, such as rapeseed and peanuts, to meet growing demand for cooking oil and dietary protein.
Rapeseed production will increase by 29% to 18 million tonnes, while peanut production will increase from 17.99 million tonnes to 19 million tonnes. China also expects to produce 215 million tonnes of rice, 140 million tonnes of wheat and 277.5 million tonnes of corn by 2025, slightly above 2020 production levels.
China imported 58.393 million tons of soybeans from Brazil from January to October 2021. According to data from the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex) of the Ministry of Economy, the volume is 4% lower than that purchased in the same period in 2020. The country is the largest buyer of Brazilian oilseeds.
By: Leonardo Gottems | agrolink
