China stopped giving import permits for soybean oil from Argentina as a trade rift between the two nations widened, four executives familiar with the matter said.
The Ministry of Commerce’s computer system for processing permit applications is not functioning and the ministry did not say when it would be operational, said the people, who declined to be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
China is the world’s biggest soybean oil buyer.
The central government assumed full control for Argentine soybean oil imports from the provinces on April 1.
The move was in response to Argentina’s anti-dumping investigations on Chinese goods ranging from steel pipes to textiles, a Chinese state-backed trade group said.
An Argentine delegation visiting Beijing this week failed to reach agreement on the matter as China’s government said the import issues are related to oil quality, the people said. China is likely to maintain its curbs in the near term, the executives said.
The government is not restricting Argentine soybean oil imports and the decision to centralize import permit management is to further monitor Argentine oil, a press official at the commerce ministry, who asked not to be named, said in a telephone interview on Saturday.
A separate official at the ministry denied the government had stopped accepting import permit applications in an interview in Beijing yesterday. He said to his knowledge the online system is still working and China’s general position on Argentine soy hasn’t changed, while declining to be identified.
The Argentine embassy was closed and unable to be contacted by phone.
A state-owned company canceled one Argentine cargo this week, weighing about 10,000 tonnes, one of the executives said. Two were redirected to other countries because buyers were concerned they would be rejected when they arrived in China, he said.
Two shipments are expected to arrive in China this month after they departed Argentina before the announcement on March 31 and traders are waiting to see how these cargoes are handled by the authorities, the people said.
Traders will have to rework contracts that have already been signed with Argentine suppliers, one executive said.
Argentina is China’s biggest supplier of soybean oil and China is the Latin American nation’s biggest buyer.
The government of Argentina collected US$600 million in export taxes on the cooking oil sold to China, two of the people said.
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