China's imports of soybeans rose in May from a month earlier, while those of crude oil, coal, and iron ore dropped, customs data showed on Monday.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 5.0% expansion in exports and a 0.9% drop in imports.
KEY POINTS:
* Soybeans: May imports at 13.92 mmt, up 128.9% m/m
* Crude oil: May imports at 48.06 mmt, down 3% m/m
* Unwrought copper: May imports at 427,000 mt, down 2.5% m/m
* Coal: May imports at 36.04 mmt, down 4.73% m/m
* Iron ore: May imports at 98.13 mmt, down 4.9% m/m
* Rare earths: May exports at 5,864.6 mt, up 22.6% m/m
Preliminary table of commodity trade data Below are comments from analysts on the commodities data:
SOYBEANS
ROSA WANG, ANALYST, JCI, SHANGHAI
"The May soybean import volume was higher than my expected 12-12.5 million metric tons. The customs clearance speed for soybeans has basically returned to normal—around two weeks. The operating rate of crushing plants has risen to over 50%, and soybean meal delivery has also been quite good."
IRON ORE:
CHU XINLI, ANALYST, CHINA FUTURES, SHANGHAI
"The import volume in May is lower than our expectations but remained at a relatively high level thanks to restocking from mills amid falling portside inventory."
STEVEN YU, ANALYST, MYSTEEL, SHANGHAI
"Some vessels cleared customs in advance due to the May Day holiday break, which contributed to lower-than-expected imports in May and higher-than-expected imports in April."
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.
(This story has been corrected to say that rare earths exports rose month-on-month, not year-on-year, in the sixth bullet under key points)
