By IFCMarkets

Higher Chinese imports bullish for soybean price

China is the world top soybean importer, and its April imports from Brazil were nearly triple March shipments of 2.099 million tons(mt). China bought 5.939 mt of soybean from Brazil in April, according to General Administration of Customs data. Soybean imports in May, June and July are expected to top 9 mt a month, well above average levels from Brazil. At the same time US Department of Agriculture reported weekly US soybean export inspections rose nearly 2.0 million bushels from last week to 14.6 million bushels for the week of May 22-28. And USDA announced a 6.8 million bushel soybean sale to an unknown buyer yesterday, believed by many to be shipped to China. Higher exports to China are bullish for soybean prices. Nevertheless China’s soybean imports from US for the marketing year to date are 48.6% lower than the five-year average. And there were reports Beijing ordered state owned firms to halt large scale US soybean and pork purchases as US-China tensions rose. Today USDA is due to release its weekly export report, and low shipment data are a downside risk for soybean price.

Summary of technical analysis

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