Analysis of Agricultural Import and Export Trade in August

As a large agricultural country, the import and export trade of Chinese agricultural products deserves attention. Customs statistics show that in 2012, the year-on-year growth of China’s agricultural imports has declined significantly, and the agricultural trade deficit has dropped significantly. The increase in food imports also decreased significantly.

In August, the total value of China's agricultural imports was 9.12 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 9.4% year-on-year. In that month, imports accounted for 6.0% of the total domestic imports. In that month, exports totaled 5.02 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 2.2% year-on-year. Exports for the month accounted for 2.8% of total domestic exports. The agricultural trade deficit was 4.10 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 19.5% over the previous year.

From January to August, total agricultural product imports totaled 73.14 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 25.2% year-on-year; exports accumulated 39.48 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 3.6% year-on-year; accumulated agricultural product trade deficits totaled 33.66 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 65.6% year-on-year.

In August, the total amount of grain imports including grains, potatoes, and beans was 3.38 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 17.5% year-on-year, accounting for 36.8% of the total imports of agricultural products for the month. In August, the total import volume was 6.302 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%. The monthly import volume decreased significantly from the previous month, but it is still at a high level.

From January to August, the cumulative total imports amounted to 27.44 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 27.0% year-on-year; the cumulative number was 54.704 million tons, an increase of 35.5% year-on-year.

From the perspective of food price import, the import price of grain in August was US$532/ton, which was a 2.6% increase from the previous year and was unchanged from the previous month. The cumulative average price of 499 US dollars / ton, down 6.2%.

The drop in import prices has become an important reason for the recent high import volume of grain. From August to September, the price of grain in the international market has risen sharply, and the higher price level has inhibited the import of grain in the later period.

In terms of sub-categories, the 1.38 million tons of imported grain and its milling in August was the historically high level; 4.44 million tons of soybeans were imported, and 540,000 tons were imported into other foods; this was an increase of 173%, -2.0%, and 10% year-on-year respectively. . From the price point of view, the average price of grain and its milling is US$334/ton, soybean price is US$618/ton, and the monthly import price of other food is US$322/ton, of which the soybean import price hits a record high.

From January to August, a total of 10.4 million tons of grain were imported, 39.34 million tons of soybeans were imported, and 5.02 million tons of other foods were imported, up by 244%, 17% and 41% respectively year-on-year.

In addition, in August, the import volume of vegetable oil was 640,000 tons, the amount was 882 million US dollars, and the unit price was 1,223 yuan/ton, which was a year-on-year increase of -7.25%, -4.98%, and 2.44% respectively; monthly imports accounted for 8.58% of the total agricultural product imports. The accumulated amount from January to August reached 4.63 million tons, with a cumulative amount of USD 5.5 billion, and the unit price was USD 1188/ton, which was up 173.48%, 15.13%, and 1.46% year-on-year respectively.