The South American agricultural giant solidifies its position so far this year as China’s top supplier of corn and soybeans

BEIJING, China (Reuters) — Brazil has extended its dominance over the United States as the largest corn supplier to China, Chinese customs data shows.
The information, which was for the first two months of the year, also increased the South American country’s soybean exports.
The surge in Brazilian supplies to China, the world’s largest agricultural importer, comes slightly more than a year after Beijing approved Brazilian corn exports in an attempt to diversify its suppliers and reduce dependence on U.S goods.
China imported 4.1 million tonnes of corn from Brazil out of a total 6.19 million tonnes that arrived during the January-February period, data from the General Administration of Customs showed, marking a 178 percent jump from the same period a year ago.
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U.S. corn imports shrank 67 per cent to 766,989 tonnes.
Plentiful harvest and logistical breakthroughs such as the consolidation of northern export routes are boosting the competitiveness of the South American grains powerhouse.
Brazil is also keen on exporting corn, soybeans and other products through Peru’s China-controlled Chancay port, which would allow Brazilian exporters to send goods by truck to the Peruvian port for shipping to Asia via the Pacific Ocean, cutting the transit time by about two weeks.
Shipping from the port also provides an alternative to the Panama Canal, where ships have encountered delays and logjams due to the impact of dry weather conditions on the canal’s water levels.
China’s soybean imports from Brazil also surged 211 percent year-on-year in the first two months of 2024 as strong harvest and competitive pricing helped outpace U.S. market share.
The world’s top buyer of soybeans brought in 6.96 million tonnes of the oilseed from Brazil, up from 2.24 million tonnes in the same period last year.
Imports from the U.S. fell to 4.96 million tonnes from 9.71 million tonnes in 2023.
Total imports in the January-February period recorded a five-year low of 13.04 million tonnes, customs data showed earlier this month, weighed down by poor crushing margins and fewer ship arrivals during the Lunar New Year holidays.
That pegs Brazil’s soybean market share at 53 per cent and the U.S.’s share at 38 per cent, according to Reuters calculations.
Brazil is the world’s biggest soybean exporter and competes with the U.S for sales to importers, including China.
Chinese buyers have stuck with Brazilian imports as the world’s largest producer continues to offer cheaper beans on the world market, traders and analysts said.
