Soybean Cargo Damage Claim – Should Carrier Be Held Liable?

Soybeans are the most important feed grains imported by China, mainly used as protein supply in animal feeding and for extracting edible oil. Domestic soybeans, albeit their growing areas and production output keep increasing, cannot satisfy the market demand. Moreover, domestic soybeans are mainly for human consumption, whilst imported beans are mostly for oil extraction. Therefore, total amount of soybeans imported by China maintains at a high level in recent years. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of the PRC (NBS), China imported 91.08 million tons of soybeans in 2022, whilst statistics by the General Administration of Customs of the PRC (GACC) shows that importation of soybeans by China in the first ten months of 2023 has amounted to over 80 million tons. It is anticipated that total quantity of soybeans imported by China for 2023 will exceed 100 million tons.