China imported 431,810 mt of wheat in September, up 24.2% from August and more than double from a year ago, data released Monday by the Chinese Customs Information Center showed.
Wheat imports for the July-September quarter stood at 1,085,346 mt, up 27.49% year on year.
Cumulative wheat imports over January-September were 2,860,695 mt, up 27.37% year on year, on strong demand for higher and lower gluten wheat used for premium and specialty flour.
Australian wheat accounted for 41.8% of the total imports over January-September, maintaining its position as the leading supplier.
Imports of Australian wheat more than doubled from August and were more than ten times higher year on year at 192,778 mt.
Imports from Canada dropped to 44,165 mt in September, 45.6% lower from 81,178 mt in August. The volume was down 74.32% year on year.
Wheat imports from the US fell 3.1% month on month to 180,319 mt in September, but the volume was more than 15 times higher from 11,677 mt a year earlier, owing to competitive prices following consecutive years of bumper crop and record stocks.
Wheat shipments from Kazakhstan was five times higher from August at 14,549 mt and nearly tripled from just 5,864 mt a year ago.
CORN IMPORTS FALL
Meanwhile, corn imports in September fell 28.3% month on month to 19,023 mt as imports slowed down following government orders to control stockpiles.
As for coarse grain, barley imports were up 74.4% month on month at 831,055 mt. They came primarily from Australia (292,686 mt), France (289,840 mt) and Ukraine (248,530 mt).
Sorghum imports soared 40.8% from August to 697,902 mt, the shipments coming primarily from the US (582,232 mt) and Australia (115,668 mt).
Imports of distilled dried grain, a protein-rich by-product of corn, fell 46.4% month on month to 272,240 mt. The volume was entirely from the US.
