China’s sorghum imports in April rise sharply ahead of dumping tariffs: customs

China’s imports of sorghum rose sharply in April from a year earlier, customs data showed on Wednesday, as buyers brought in large volumes of the feed grain ahead of the Chinese government’s anti-dumping decision made at the peak of China-US trade tensions.

China imported 640,000 tons of sorghum in April, up 87 percent year-on-year, ahead of an anti-dumping deposit announced by the country on April 17 after a two-month investigation.

The country imports almost all of its sorghum from the US.

News of the deposit, which still came earlier than had expected, prompted several more cargoes of the grain already shipped from the US to China to be resold to other countries and regions before reaching Chinese ports.

April sorghum imports were up 12.3 percent from last month’s 570,014 tons, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

China dropped the US sorghum probe and anti-dumping deposit last week in a goodwill concession as the two sides held talks to resolve trade tensions.

Meanwhile, shipments of barley, used in feed and brewing and an alternative to sorghum, rose 2.6 percent from last year’s 1.1 million tons to 1.12 million tons, and were up 30.2 percent from 860,000 tons in March.

China in early April increased tariffs by up to 25 percent on 128 US products, from frozen pork and wine to certain fruits and nuts, although the impact on overall imports was not clear.

China’s pork imports fell 19 percent in April from March to 110,098 tons, but were still up 3.4 percent year-on-year. Imports were also pushed down by falling domestic pork prices, analysts said.