Staff of Marubeni's Chinese grain unit held
Detention of three workers comes amid claims of tax evasionon soya bean imports
Three employees at one of Marubeni's grain trading unit in China have been detained, mainland customs said yesterday, a move prompted by allegations of tax evasion on soya bean imports.
The three local staff worked at a Chinese unit of Marubeni's Columbia Grain, the Japanese trading house and Chinese customs in the port city of Qingdao said.
The detentions could add to recent pressure on soya bean prices after a wave of soya bean cargo defaults in China, where a combination of poor crushing margins and difficulty getting credit have led to a spike in rejected cargoes.
United States soya bean futures yesterday hit their lowest since April 14, on concerns about defaults by top buyer China, which buys more than 60 per cent of global imports.
The market has declined 3.5 per cent in five sessions.
The customs authority in Qingdao said the three employees were being detained on suspicion of smuggling. Mainland customs sometimes uses smuggling as a broader term for tax evasion.
Sources said the allegations could be related to discrepancies on the reported valuation of imported soya bean cargoes, which would affect customs duty and value-added tax, since both are levied based on the cargo values.