China Desk: China has imported 93.5m tons of soybeans this year. The story is in October
Chinese customs released the figure on the 10th. In Brazil, October shipments are well below 2025.
To save you time4
- What's the number?
- 93.479 million tons of soybeans imported by China from January to October, per Chinese customs (海关总署), released November 10.
- What about Brazil in October?
- It shipped 4.82m tons through the fourth week, versus 6.73m in all of October 2025 (Secex).
- Why the drop?
- It's the US harvest window, and China has a 25m-ton annual pledge with the US.
- What's the next data point?
- The by-origin breakdown, which customs publishes days later. That shows how much came from the US, and moves port premiums.
中文源Original Chinese sourceView original ↗
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This number came out in Chinese on the 10th, and if you only read Portuguese or English, you missed it.
China's customs (GACC, 海关总署) reported the country imported 93.479 million tons of soybeans from January to October. That's the total; the by-origin breakdown comes a few days later.
The detail that matters
On our side, Secex data show Brazil shipped 4.82 million tons in October through the fourth week. All of October 2025 came to 6.73 million. A sharp slowdown.
Why
Two things at once: it's the US harvest window, and China has pledged to buy 25 million tons a year from the US. In October bookings, the US had about 6.4 million tons versus 3.3 million for Brazil, even paying a 13% tariff against our 3%.
How it reaches you
Fewer ships now means weaker port premiums and slower revenue for exporters and traders until our harvest.
What I'd watch
The next customs release, by origin. Through September, Brazil had shipped 65.84 million tons. Compared with the October total, we'll see exactly how much of the month was American. That's the number that moves premiums.
