BRASILIA, Feb 25 (Reuters): China's imports of soybeans from the United States (US) in January fell 14 per cent from the same month a year ago, customs data showed, as Brazil grabbed a larger slice of the world's biggest market for the oilseed with higher-protein beans.
According to customs data released on Saturday, China imported 5.82 million tonnes of soybeans from the United States in January, equal to 67 per cent of all imports. Last year, US beans accounted for 88.5 per cent of the January total.
The drop underlines concerns about a slide in US sales to the world's top soybean buyer because of declining protein levels in US soybeans, allowing Brazil to lure customers with its own higher-protein crop.
It also comes amid a growing trade spat between the United States and China, the world's top two economies, after Washington slapped tariffs on imports of solar panels and washing machines earlier this year.
In what is regarded as retaliation for that move, Beijing earlier this month launched a probe into US sorghum imports, stirring concerns that the government may consider other steps that could hurt sales of soybeans and other crops.
Brazil sold 2.07 million tonnes of beans to China in January, up 720 per cent from a year ago and equivalent to just under a quarter of the total. The South American nation accounted for just 3.3 per cent of the January 2017 total.
Its share of soybean exports to China grew to the largest on record in 2017 and looks set to expand again this year, helped by competitive prices as well as the high protein content of its beans.
Another report from Beijing adds: China's coal imports from key supplier Australia surged in January from a year ago, customs data showed on Saturday, boosted by strong demand at utilities amid freezing weather.
The world's top coal consumer brought in 7.94 million tonnes of coal from Australia last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed, up 9.4 per cent from a year ago.
That compares with 8.07 million tonnes in December.
Indonesian coal supplies jumped almost 40 per cent in January from a year ago to 5.04 million tonnes, one of the highest monthly totals for the country since 2014.
The surge is a big recovery from December when delays at loading ports in Indonesia as a result of heavy rain slowed arrivals to just 1.7 million tonnes.
Buyers of Indonesian coal had also been holding back orders of the fuel as new shipping rules for coal and crude palm oil issued by Jakarta are expected to restrict exports to Indonesian vessels. The regulation will take effect at the end of April.
With several bouts of freezing weather sweeping across China in late January and early February, some coal-fired power plants warned of tight supplies of the fuel as their inventories fell below critical levels due to record daily consumption.
Data released this month showed that China brought in a total of 27.81 million tonnes of coal in January, the highest level in four years.
"Imported coal will continue to play a key role as a supplement of domestic coal until mid-March as heating demand in northern China remain robust," said a Zhengzhou-based trader, adding coal imports may tighten again afterwards.
The heating season typically ends on March 15 in northern China.
Vessel-tracking and port data compiled by Thomson Reuters Supply Chain and Commodity Forecasts suggest China will import about 21.68 million tonnes of seaborne coal in February.
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