China's soybean market sees sluggish buying and selling, with both supply and demand showing weakness

Since this year, China has implemented a target price subsidy policy for soybeans. Recently, reporters learned during interviews in Heilongjiang Province, China's main soybean-producing area, that Heilongjiang had a bumper soybean harvest this year, but the buying and selling market was quiet, and the downward trend in soybean prices was very obvious. Market wait-and-see sentiment was strong. Soybean farmers and traders look forward to the early introduction of the detailed rules for soybean target price subsidies.

The soybean planting area in Tongjiang City, Heilongjiang Province, is 360,000 mu. Liu Gang, a villager from Weiming Village, Jiejinkou Hezhe Ethnic Township, Tongjiang City, planted 120 mu of soybeans this year, and the harvested soybeans piled up like a small hill in his yard. Liu Gang told reporters that in an average year, 300 jin per mu for soybeans is already good, but this year it reached 400 jin.

Hailun City, Heilongjiang Province, has long been known as "China's Hometown of High-Quality Soybeans." Wang Huiqing from Nanyang Village, Leye Township, Hailun City, planted more than 100 mu of soybeans this year. Wang Huiqing said this year's soybean harvest was the best in recent years.

While soybeans had a bumper harvest, because China canceled the temporary storage policy for soybeans this year and implemented the new soybean target price policy, soybean purchase prices in Heilongjiang are currently low, and the buying and selling market is cold.

Yu Chunlong, manager of Hailun Tiande Agricultural and Sideline Products Distribution Co., Ltd., said that more than 3,000 tons of soybeans have been purchased so far, and the price of new beans is 2.15 yuan/jin, down 0.04 yuan-0.06 yuan/jin from before October 1. "If we cannot sell what we buy in time, we will lose money, because prices are still falling, so no one dares to buy."

In previous years, China's soybean purchasing had already entered its peak period in November, but the peak soybean selling period has not yet arrived. Jing Yu, a soybean farmer at the Third Improved Seed Farm in Nehe City, Qiqihar, said that only part of the soybeans have been sold so far, while by the same time last year they had almost all been sold, and this year it will be very difficult to sell them even before the Spring Festival.

Reporters learned from the Heilongjiang Soybean Association that, affected by low-priced imported soybeans and the price gap between domestic and foreign soybeans, the vast majority of soybean processing enterprises above designated size in Heilongjiang Province are in a state of shutdown. Demand momentum for domestic soybeans is insufficient, and demand is basically maintained at last year's level.

Most traders and soybean farmers are taking a wait-and-see attitude. Yu Chunlong and Liu Gang both said that the detailed rules for soybean target price subsidies have not been announced, and there is no baseline for how farmers' selling prices, quality and output are to be confirmed, and the operation is relatively difficult. Further observation is still needed on the future direction of the market.

Bank credit for soybean purchasing has also decreased greatly. Zhu Defa, director of the First Client Division of the Heilongjiang Branch of the Agricultural Development Bank of China, said that for soybean purchasing loans, the Agricultural Development Bank lent more than 13 billion yuan last year. But so far this year, the Heilongjiang Branch of the Agricultural Development Bank has lent only to two or three soybean purchasing enterprises, with a lending scale of more than 20 million.

Industry insiders predict that because the details of the direct subsidy policy have not yet been announced and national reserve soybeans are sufficient, domestic soybeans are likely to fall rather than rise later and will continue to decline. Chinese soybean farmers and dealers hope that specific soybean subsidy measures will be introduced as soon as possible to protect farmers' enthusiasm for planting soybeans.