17/04/04 - China’s current soybean imports have dropped greatly, with thearrivals in July down from May and June. The actual arrivals have declinedfrom June. Some domestic large crushers are still worrying about thefuture soybean supply and some crushers are considering adjusting theoperation rate in an effort to keep the normal production when the soybeansupply is insufficient. If the current situations continue, the importedsoybean stocks will be used up soon.

China’s imported soybean arrivals since May have been lower than last yearover the same time, with the monthly arrivals forecast down from last yearin June-September. As the imports have declined January-May and July, theimports in the third will decline greatly in the third quarter, so CNGOICforecast China’s 2003/04 soybean imports at only 18 million tons, down by3 million tons.