China will import a record amount of grain and oil crops in 2024

Against the background of low world prices and a deficit of its own production, China may import a record amount of grain and oil crops in 2024, although it recently canceled deliveries of previously contracted batches, Reuters reports.

Market participants expect that the pace of imports will increase already in April, and the total volume of deliveries in 2024 will correspond to last year. According to StoneX, China will continue to buy high-quality food wheat from Canada, the US and Australia to mix with its own grain, which will be of very poor quality due to adverse weather conditions.

In January-February, compared to the same period in 2023, China increased corn imports by 16% to 6.19 million tons, and barley imports tripled to 2.71 million tons.

In total, in 2023, China imported agricultural products worth 234 billion dollars.