Dec 8 (Reuters) – China’s imports of soybeans, crude oil and iron ore rose in November from a year earlier, while those of unwrought copper and coal fell, customs data showed on Monday.
China’s exports topped forecasts in November, buoyed by a boost from a tariff truce with the U.S.
even as weak factory activity and vanishing returns from front-loading point to a challenging 2026.
Outbound shipments from the world’s second-biggest economy grew 5.9% year-on-year, customs data showed, reversing from a 1.1% contraction a month prior, and beating a 3.8% forecast in a Reuters poll.
KEY POINTS:
* Soybeans: November imports at 8.11 mmt, up 13.43% y/y
* Crude oil: November imports at 50.89 mmt, up 4.88% y/y
* Unwrought copper: November imports at 427,000 mt, down 19.13% y/y
* Coal: November imports at 44.05 mmt, down 19.88% y/y
* Iron ore: November imports at 110.54 mmt, up 8.52% y/y
* Rare earths: November exports at 5,493.9 mt, up 24.42% y/y
Preliminary table of commodity trade data Below are comments from analysts on the commodities data:
COMMENT ON SOYBEANS
ROSA WANG, ANALYST, JCI, SHANGHAI:
“Soybean imports came in slightly below our expectations.
Looking ahead to 2025, we expect China’s soybean imports to reach a record high – potentially exceeding 110 million tons – driven by strong commercial buying from Brazil as well as arrivals of U.S.
soybeans.”
WANG WENSHEN, ANALYST, SUBLIME CHINA INFORMATION, SHANDONG:
“China’s soybean imports fell again in November on a month-on-month basis, but still remained above both last year’s level and the five-year average.
Soybean and soybean-meal inventories at domestic crushers are currently high, adding selling pressure. We expect December soybean imports to reach 8.6 million metric tons, bringing full-year imports to a record high.”
COMMENT ON CRUDE OIL
MUYU XU, SENIOR ANALYST, KPLER, SINGAPORE:
“China’s seaborne crude oil arrivals in November were higher than in October, with Saudi oil arrivals increasing by 345,000 barrels per day to 1.59 million barrels per day, marking a five-month high, driven by Chinese companies taking delivery of significant volumes of October-loaded cargoes.
“Iranian oil arrivals increased by 233,000 barrels per day to 1.35 million barrels per day, the highest level since August.
This was partly due to Iran’s high export volumes in previous months, and partly because buyers likely anticipated early allocation of November crude quotas, prompting them to lock in supplies ahead of time.
“Russian seaborne crude oil arrivals fell by 157,000 barrels per day to 1.19 million barrels per day, likely related to reduced procurement by state-owned refiners and earlier independent refineries having tight quotas.”
COMMENT ON IRON ORE
ZHUO GUIQIU, ANALYST, JINRUI FUTURES, SHENZHEN:
“It’s in line with our expectation; hot metal output fell last month as mills increased equipment on furnaces amid shrinking margins, indicating lower demand for iron ore.”
XU XIANGCHUN, DIRECTOR OF CONTENT, MYSTEEL, BEIJING:
“Despite a monthly drop, iron ore imports in November held high as hot metal output remained above 2.3 million tons; also, the downward adjustment of ore grades of some products dictated the need for higher volumes of imports.”
LINKS: For details, see the official Customs website (www.customs.gov.cn)
BACKGROUND:
China is the world’s biggest crude oil importer and top buyer of coal, copper, iron ore, and soybeans.
(Reporting by Asia Commodities and Energy team; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
