Updated Report: Research report on imported soybeans in China 2020-2024

Soybean Import Overview

As the largest soybean consumer in the world, China consumed about 110 million tons of soybeans in 2017, about one-third of the world’s total soybean consumption. In China, soybeans are mainly used for the extraction of edible oils and the making of bean products. Soybean meal, the by-product of oil extraction, is a high-quality feed that is widely used in China’s livestock breeding industry.

China’s soybean consumption is rising. However, soybean planting is a low-profit and even money-losing industry in China in the context of low-level agricultural technologies and rising labor costs, which makes it difficult to significantly increase domestic soybean yields.

For example, from 2012 to 2017, China’s soybean consumption surged from 74.85 million tons to 112.18 million tons while its soybean yields just increased from 13.01 million tons to 14.55 million tons. In 2015, the soybean yields even fell to 11.78 million tons.

The wide gap between the yields and consumption forces Chinese companies to satisfy the market demand by importing soybeans. From 2013 to 2017, the import volume of soybeans in China inched up from 58.38 million tons to 95.53 million tons.

In 2017, the soybeans imported from Brazil and the U.S. reached 50.93 million tons and 32.85 million tons respectively, accounting for 53.3% and 34.4% respectively of the total soybean imports.

The more important reason for China’s largely importing soybeans is that foreign soybeans have higher yields and oil yields. Thanks to transgenic species, large-scale planting and modernized agricultural technologies, the major soybean producing countries in South and North America outperform China in both planting cost control and per unit area yield, and thus have distinct price advantages.

This is also the core reason why imported soybeans occupy a major share of the Chinese market. In addition, higher oil yields of imported soybeans are also an advantage over domestic ones. The oil yields of domestic soybeans range from 16% to 17%, while those of imported transgenic ones range from 19% to 20%, which are 3% higher.

This difference directly affects the profits on soybean crushing. On the whole, domestic soybeans cannot compete with imported ones either in prices or in oil yields.

China’s soybean industry is heavily reliant on imports and is thus vulnerable to the impact of international soybean prices. China has weak pricing power on the soybean market. To encourage soybean planting, the Chinese government has introduced some incentives, for example, government subsidies. However, the incentives including low subsidies are not effective enough to dramatically increase domestic soybean yields.

In Jul. 2018, the Chinese government began to impose a 25% retaliatory tariff on U.S. goods including soybeans, which made the cost of importing U.S. soybeans about 40 USD/ton to 50 USD/ton higher than that of importing Brazilian soybeans. In this context, some Chinese importers are considering turning to Brazil.

Although Brazil is the world’s largest soybean exporter, Brazilian soybeans are unlikely to completely replace the soybean imports from the U.S. It is mainly because that the soybean imports from other countries like Argentina, Paraguay and Canada total less than 15 million tons every year, and have limited growth potential.

It is expected that with an expanding population and improving living standards, the demand for soybeans in China will continue to grow in the next few years. As the domestic soybean yields can hardly be increased, over 80% soybean consumption will rely on imports.

There are many uncertainties in the Sino-U.S. trade war. If China and the U.S. can reach a compromise on bilateral trade, in 2019, U.S. soybean imports to China may rebound rapidly; otherwise, the tariffs will remain at the current level or be increased, and there will be a surge in the prices and a plummet in the volume of U.S. soybeans imported to China.

Even if Chinese importers turn their attention to countries such as Brazil, the soaring demand will push up the prices of soybeans from these countries and press Chinese importers in cost. Overall, the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade war will increase the cost of importing soybeans, which means that Chinese consumers will have to pay more for soybean oil, bean products, dairy products, pork, eggs, etc.

Topics Covered:
– Demand for soybeans in China
– Status of soybean planting in China
– Soybean import in China
– Major Chinese importers of soybeans
– Major sources of soybean imports to China
– Impact of Sino-U.S. trade war on China’s import of soybeans
– Forecasts on soybean import in China from 2019 to 2023

The post Analytical Report on Soybean Import in China, 2018-2022 first appeared on CRI Report.

The soybean industry involves departments and industries of national economy related to soybean production, trade, processing, logistics, R&D and relevant services. The soybean industry possesses a leading chain of bulk farm-products in China, including planting, processing, supply of edible oil, forage and breeding. The soybean industry experienced huge changes and difficulties after the entrance in WTO. On the one hand, domestic soybean production shrank with a rising import dependence ratio up to over 80%. On the other hand, key links of Chinese soybean industry were controlled by foreign capitals with their strength in funds and technologies.

China was a leading producer of soybeans before. In the early 1990s, the highest export volume exceeded 1 million tons in China as a net exporter of soybeans. However, soybean becomes a kind of agricultural product with the largest import volume in China.

The domestic output volume of soybeans started to decline from 1996. The import volume of soybeans increased while the export volume declined from 1995 to 2002. It was 13.94 million tons in 2002 which was close to the domestic output volume of soybeans and reached 20.74 million tons in 2003, first exceeding the domestic output volume. Meanwhile, it was up to 81.69 million tons in 2015.

As a world leading soybean importer, the import volume of soybeans in China accounted for over 60% of the global soybean trade. However, Chinese enterprises have no international pricing rights but to accept prices set by CBOT. Transnational grain trade giants occupy the pricing rights of the soybean market so Chinese importers are regulated by the market in the procurement and import of soybeans. Particularly, those large-scale crushing enterprises dependent on the import of soybeans suffer huge loss in the import of soybeans.

From 2004, soybean processing enterprises experienced comprehensive loss in China while international grain businesses entered China and occupied over half of the market shares with this opportunity, which was followed by the transfer from trade businesses to processing enterprises. The procurement of soybeans was at high costs in 2004 while the soybean price declined sharply from then on, leading to the closing down of numerous Chinese importers.

In the processing of soybeans, major evaluation indexes include the self-support degree and domestic prices of soybeans. The self-support degree of soybeans was less than 40% and it presented a trend of decline. The price of soybeans experienced a sharp fluctuation especially due to the imported soybeans.

Main situation of the processing link in China soybean industry is considered to be the absolute domination of foreign capitals in the capital composition of the crushing industry. There are two targets in the foreign-owned soybean processing industry including larger sales volume of soybeans and more market shares than competitors in China.

The development of many foreign-owned grain and oil enterprises is aiming at the establishment of complete industry chains including agriculture production materials, agricultural product production, agriculture processing and circulation for higher profits. Over half of the crushing capacity of soybeans in China was controlled by transnational grain enterprises by the end of 2015.

Readers can obtain the following information or more through this report:

-Development Environment of Soybean Industry in China

-Trend of Output Volume of Soybeans in China

-Trend of Import Volume of Soybeans in China

-Trend of Demand Volume of Soybeans in China

-Development Status of China Soybean Industry

-Major Driving Forces and Market Opportunities of Soybean Industry in China

-Major Soybean Processing Enterprises and Their Operation Status in China

-Market Status and Development Trend of Transgenic Soybeans in China

-Development Trend of China Soybean Industry

Table of Contents

1 Major Economic Characteristics of Soybean Industry

1.1 Product Features

1.1.1 Definition and Classification of Soybeans

1.1.2 Overview of Soybean Industry Chain

1.2 Analysis on Economic Environment of China Soybean Industry Operation

1.2.1 Macro Economy in China and the Globe

1.2.2 Global Economy

1.2.3 China Economy

1.3 Analysis on Policy Environment of China Soybean Industry

1.3.1 Planting Policies

1.3.2 Import and Export Policies

1.3.3 Policies of Soybean Processing Industry

2 Analysis on Soybean Production in China, 2011-2016

2.1 Planting Area

2.2 Distribution of Soybean Planting Regions in China

2.3 Output Volume of Soybeans in China

2.4 Analysis on Costs and Profits of Soybean Planting in China

3 Analysis on Market Demand of Soybean Industry in China, 2011-2016

3.1 Overview on Market Demand

3.2 Analysis on Demand for Soybeans in Food Industry

3.3 Analysis on Demand for Soybeans in Plant Oil Processing Industry

3.4 Analysis on Demand for Soybeans in Forage Processing Industry

4 Analysis on Prices in China Soybean Market, 2013-2016

4.1 Soybean Prices in China

4.2 Analysis on Factors Influencing Prices

4.3 Influence Analysis of Imported Soybeans on China Soybean Market

4.4 Forecast on Soybean Price Trend in China, 2017-2010

5 Analysis on Import and Export of Soybean Industry in China, 2011-2016

5.1 Analysis on Export of Soybeans in China

5.2 Analysis on Import of Soybeans in China

5.3 Analysis on Major Import Sources of Soybeans in China

5.4 Prediction on Import and Export Trend of China Soybeans

6 Analysis on Market Competition in China Soybean Industry

6.1 Competition Status

6.2 Competition between Domestic Soybeans and Imported Soybeans

6.3 Competition among Imported Soybeans

6.4 Competition between Transgenic Soybeans and Non-transgenic Soybeans

6.5 Competition Trend in China Soybean Industry

7 Analysis on Major Foreign-owned Soybean Processing Enterprises in China, 2011-2016

7.1 Wilmar International Limited

7.1.1 Enterprise Profile of Wilmar International Limited

7.1.2 Operation Status of Wilmar International Limited in China

7.2 Cargill

7.2.1 Enterprise Profile

7.2.2 Operation Status of Cargill in China

7.2.3 Development Strategies of Cargill in China

7.3 Noble Group

7.3.1 Enterprise Profile

7.3.2 Operation Status of Noble Group in China

7.3.3 Development Strategies of Noble Group in China

7.4 Bunge

7.5 ADM

8 Analysis on Major Domestic Soybean Processing Enterprises in China, 2011-2016

8.1 COFCO Corporation

8.1.1 Enterprise Profile of COFCO Corporation

8.1.2 Operation Status of COFCO Corporation

8.2 Jiusan Oils & Grains Industries Group Co., Ltd.

8.3 Other Enterprises

9 Prediction on Development of Soybean Industry in China, 2017-2021

9.1 Analysis on Factors Influencing Development

9.1.1 Major Driving Forces and Market Opportunities

9.1.2 Risks and Challenges

9.2 Forecast on Supply of Soybeans in China

9.3 Forecast on Demand for Soybeans in China

Selected Charts

Chart Planting Area of Soybeans in China, 2000-2016

Chart Output Volume of Soybeans in China, 2000-2016

Chart Export Volume of Soybeans in China, 2000-2016

Chart Import Volume of Soybeans in China, 2000-2016

Chart Processing Capacity Change of Foreign-owned Soybean Processing Factories in China, 2006-2016

Chart Actual Processing Quantity of Foreign-owned Soybean Processing Factories in China, 2006-2016

Chart Forecast on Import Volume of Soybeans in China, 2009-2012

Chart Analysis on Demand Structure of China Soybeans

Chart Output Volume of Soybean Oil in China, 2011-2016

Chart Analysis on Self-support Degree of China Soybeans, 2001-2016

The post Research Report on China Soybean Industry, 2017-2021 first appeared on CRI Report.