CHINA’S imports of sorghum in May rose 59 percent year on year to 470,000 tons, customs data showed Saturday, despite an anti-dumping move by the country a month earlier.

The surprisingly large number came even after China announced in mid-April that importers of sorghum from the United States would have to put up a 178.6-percent deposit on the value of shipments.

Several cargoes of the U.S.-grown grain, used in livestock feed and the fiery Chinese liquor baijiu, were already on the water at the time, but changed course and were sold in other markets.

China dropped an anti-dumping investigation into U.S. imports May 18, and the data suggests that several cargoes that had not been diverted cleared Chinese customs in the final weeks of the month.

Still, the May volumes were down from the previous month’s 640,000 tons, when buyers brought in large volumes of the grain ahead of the start of the anti-dumping deposit.

Volumes are likely to fall further after China included the grain in a list of products that will attract tariffs of 25 percent from July 6.

The data from the General Administration of Customs does not break down the imports by country, but China imports nearly all of its sorghum from the United States in trade worth about US$1.1 billion in 2017.

Still, despite trade tensions with the United States , other figures released Saturday showed farm imports have remained robust.

Barley imports rose 23.3 percent to 770,000 tons, while corn imports surged to 760,000 tons versus last year’s 42,000 tons.

Wheat imports rose 24.8 percent year on year to 630,000 tons. Pork imports in May were relatively strong at 115,322 tons, down 3.6 percent year on year, but up from April’s 110,098 tons.

Shipments of fresh and dried fruits and nuts rose 16.3 percent year on year in May to 530,000 tons but dropped slightly from the previous month’s 560,000 tons.(SD-Agencies)