Chinese demand for soybean remains robust

China’s demand for soybean is forecast to grow in 2020 by 7.8% y-o-y, signalling a positive outlook for the dry commodity as well as for the bulk carriers that transport it.   In the midst of a universal turmoil with the coronavirus having jolted several markets worldwide, the task of envisaging how the world will look like post-pandemic is getting increasingly hard. Chinese grain demand, however, seems to offer a safe haven thus far. 2020 forecasts revised upwards The United States Department of Agriculture revised upward, in its latest report released April, the projection for China’s soy imports in the 2019/2020 marketing year to 89 million metric tonnes, up 7.8% y-o-y. China is a strategic buyer of soybean (which is processed into meal for livestock and cooking oil) and its growing demand offers some good news in an ocean of bad ones.