China imported 2,415 cubic metres of ethanol last month, its second smallest volume in the past year, data showed on Friday, as a big hike in taxes curbed demand from the world's fastest-growing biofuel market. Nearly all of the imports came from Vietnam, which shipped 2,381 cubic metres to China, the same data showed. The United States, a major exporter of the fuel, brought in just 1 cubic metre.

In 2016, the United States shipped 853,272 cubic metres to China, accounting for the vast majority of its ethanol imports. The data comes after Beijing removed a preferential import tax for US and Brazilian shipments, reverting to a normal rate of 30 percent from January 1.

The drop was due the tariffs, said Shi Wei, an analyst with Shanghai JC Intelligence. "But imports from Vietnam won't really pick up because output there is small, compared with the US or China. China would rather produce ethanol itself than importing from Vietnam." Distillers' dried grains (DDGS) imports in January were down 88 percent at 36,011 tonnes from the previous year, data showed, the latest sign that China's punitive import tariffs are curbing sales of the animal feed ingredient. Last month, Beijing hiked the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on US imports.

Copyright Reuters, 2017