China alone has suspended shipments of Brazilian soybeans from five companies, sources told Reuters.

By Lori Chen, The Mei Mei Chu, Ella Cao and Naveen Thukral

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has stopped accepting shipments of Brazilian soybeans from five entities, the world’s largest soybean buyer, after the shipments failed to meet plant hygiene standards, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of oilseeds, has banned shipments to China from Terra Roxas Comercio de Cerreis, Olam Brasil and C. Vale Cooperative Agroindustrial since Jan. 8, one of the sources said.

On January 14, Chinese customs blocked shipments from Cargill Agricola SA and ADM do Brasil, the source added.

Sources said there were concerns after some shipments were found to be contaminated with chemicals, pests or insects.

The parent companies of the affected entities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

China’s General Administration of Customs did not respond to a request for comment.

“When we tried to process soybeans shipped by these five companies through the customs website, we were unable to proceed,” said the second source, a soybean crusher trader in China.

It is unclear how long the ban will last, although traders expect it to be short-lived.

“This depends mainly on how quickly Brazilian companies recognize what went wrong that led to these imbalances and develop a plan to fix it,” the first source said.

China buys more than 60% of soybeans worldwide, with Brazil emerging as the largest supplier in recent years.

The banned firms are the leading suppliers of soybeans to China.

“We are taking the matter very seriously,” an official from one of the affected companies told Reuters. They did not want to be named due to the seriousness of the matter.

Oilseed processors in China have withheld all shipments from Brazil for the first quarter amid fears of a trade war between Washington and Beijing following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump earlier this week.

China in 2010 It will import a record 105 million tons of soybeans in 2024, of which 71% or 74.65 million tons will come from Brazil.