China’s U.S. Soybean Imports Drop to Zero Again as South American Purchases Reach Record High

China recorded no soybean imports from the United States for the second consecutive month in October, even as its total soybean purchases surged to a monthly record driven by heavy buying from Brazil and Argentina. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, U.S. soybean imports fell from 541,434 metric tons a year earlier to zero, extending the decline linked to elevated tariffs imposed during the ongoing trade tensions with Washington. The absence of U.S. shipments also reflects the exhaustion of earlier U.S. harvest supplies, commonly referred to as old-crop beans.

While U.S. imports dried up, China boosted its South American sourcing sharply. October arrivals from Brazil jumped nearly 29% year-on-year to 7.12 million metric tons, accounting for more than three-quarters of China’s total soybean imports for the month. Purchases from Argentina also climbed 15.4% to 1.57 million tons, representing roughly one-sixth of total arrivals. As a result, China’s overall soybean imports hit 9.48 million tons, the highest ever recorded for October.

From January to October, China imported 70.81 million tons of soybeans from Brazil, up 4.5% from a year earlier, and 4.46 million tons from Argentina, an increase of nearly 24%. Despite the recent slump in monthly U.S. arrivals, earlier buying in 2025 pushed China’s year-to-date imports of American soybeans to 16.82 million tons, an 11.5% rise.

Following months of reduced U.S. purchases amid escalating tariff disputes, China has recently increased orders after late-October discussions between U.S. and Chinese leaders in South Korea. State-owned trader COFCO has reportedly secured over 1 million tons of U.S. soybeans since those talks, according to USDA data. Markets are now watching for further large-scale Chinese buying, as Washington has highlighted a 12-million-ton year-end target, though Beijing has yet to confirm any such commitment.