China's soybean imports this year will increase to 54.5 million tons

The Hamburg-based oilseeds publication Oil World forecasted on Tuesday that China's soybean imports from August 2010 to July 2011 will climb sharply to 54.5 million tons, which is much higher than the 46.82 million tons in 2009/2010.

Oil World expects China's 2010/2011 soybean crush is expected to be 52.7 million tons, which is higher than the 46.5 million tons in 2009/2010, as the country's economic growth stimulates demand for soybean oil and soybean meal.

But the oil world also said that due to the recent heavy import, China's soybean stocks have risen to record levels in the past two to three months, which may curb soybean imports in the coming weeks.

The oil world estimates that in January and February this year, China's soybean imports fell to 4.5 million tons - 4.6 million tons and 2.8 million tons - 2.9 million tons respectively.

In December last year, it reached 5.43 million tons. It is expected that soybean imports will return to 3.3-3.5 million tons in March.