By Mei Mei Chu
BEIJING, May 9 (Reuters) - China's soybean imports in April jumped 18% from a year earlier, data showed on Thursday, as buyers snapped up cheap and plentiful Brazilian beans from the South American producer while it was wrapping up its harvest season.
Total arrivals for the month were 8.57 million metric tons, according to the General Administration of Customs, the highest on record for April.
Soybean arrivals into the world's top buyer during the January-April period were 27.15 million tons, down 2.9% from the same period last year, the data showed. <CNC-SOY-IMP>
The rise was driven by stronger soymeal demand for animal feed as profit margins at hog farms improved, Cheap CNC machines with installation and service said an analyst at a Chinese agricultural trading firm based in Shanghai, who declined to be identified.