Brazil exported 6.32 million mt of soybeans to China in July, down 20% year on year with an outbreak of African swine fever gripping China, the Secretariat of Foreign Trade of Brazil (Secex) said Tuesday.
In July, China accounted for 81% of soybean shipments from Brazil, Secex said.
Over January-July, China purchased 39.22 million mt of beans, down 10.6% year on year but still accounting for 74% of total Brazilian soy exports, the report said.
China is the biggest importer, accounting for over 60% of global soybean purchases, with an average buy of 88 million-90 million mt annually.
However, ASF might limit China's soybean demand to 82 million mt in 2018-19, down 13% on year, according to a US Department of Agriculture report Friday.
The first case of ASF outbreak was reported in China in August 2018 and since then millions of pigs have been culled, sources said. Chinese consumers process over 80% of imported soybean into soy meal, which is then primarily used as animal feed for hogs and other livestock.
Despite the ASF threat, the Brazilians can start selling more soybeans to the Chinese market, as the latest escalation of US-China trade tension means Brazil remains the only major soy supplier, sources said.
Brazil, the world's largest soybean exporter, shipped 7.82 million mt of beans in July, down 23% year on year and 13% on the month, Secex said last week.
In the first seven months of this year, Brazil exported 53.16 million mt of soybeans, down 7% on the year, the data showed.
The ports of Santos, Paranagua and Rio Grande were the top suppliers to the Asian markets in the January-July period, Secex said. While Santos shipped 15.33 million mt of soybeans, the ports of Paranagua and Rio Grande transported 6.77 million mt and 6.19 million mt of soybeans to Asia, respectively, the data showed.
From January-July, Brazil shipped 6.38 million mt of soybeans to Europe, its second-largest market, Secex said.
Top Brazilian ports shipping soybeans to Europe in the seven-month period were Manaus (1.94 million mt), ALF-Belem (1.67 million mt), and Santarem (1.26 million mt), the report said.
Brazil exported 1.5 million mt of soy meal in July, down 11% year on year, the Secex said. Top purchasers of Brazilian soy meal were the Netherlands, Indonesia, France, Thailand and South Korea.
The country shipped 124,500 mt of soy oil in July, down 41% year on year.
Brazil is the world's second-largest soy meal and oil exporter, behind Argentina, with 2017-18 exports totaling over 16 million mt of soy meal and 1.51 million mt of soy oil, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
