China's imports of distillers dried grains in the first 10 months of this year totaled slightly over 1.3 million metric tons, data shared by Shanghai JC Intelligence Co. analysts showed Monday.

The data confirm China's buying appetite for the corn-based animal feed was severely dented by an official antidumping probe late last year.

Chinese farms and feed traders bought 3.1 million tons of DDG from the U.S. , prompting an antidumping inquiry from Beijing after the U.S. opened a probe into alleged Chinese wind-power subsidies.

The U.S. Grains Council said in a weekend update that Chinese interest in U.S. DDG exports appears to be reviving, following two successful recent workshops the council organized in the cities of Guangzhou and Qingdao.

China is still the second-largest export market for U.S. DDG after Mexico, the council said.

China's imports of the agricultural commodity in October reached 163,812 tons, down 7% from September, Shanghai JC Intelligence Co. said, citing customs data. November data will only be available later this month.

The pace of imports has recovered from the year's low of 66,026 tons posted in May, when Chinese buyers feared punitive tariffs would be levied against the commodity.

Those fears eased in recent months after the China National Grain and Oils Information Center, an influential state grain research agency, downplayed the likelihood of tough sanctions.

The USGC said the bilateral trade remains strong.

"While the pace [of imports] has slowed compared to last year's record volume, the U.S. continues to export large volumes of DDG to China, despite an antidumping case initiated by the Chinese government last winter," the council said.

Working with FoodChina Co., the USGC organized recent Guangzhou and Qingdao workshops on U.S. DDG, and attendance was "much larger than we initially planned for," said the council's DDG manager, Alvaro Cordero.

FoodChina is an online agricultural trading company set up in 2000 by state grain trading giant Cofco Group Co. and foreign partners, including Continental Grain Co., Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) and Rabobank.