By Mei Mei Chu

BEIJING, Oct 20 (Reuters) - China's soybean imports from the United States surged 13-fold in September from a year earlier, government data showed on Sunday, rising for the sixth consecutive month.

The world's largest soybean buyer imported 1.71 million metric tons of soybeans from the United States last month, Custom CNC machining up from 132,680 tons a year ago, according to the General Administration of Customs.

However, import volumes from the U.S. remain much smaller than from top producer Brazil.

Brazilian soybeans made up most of the near record 11.37 million tons of the oilseed that arrived in China in September as good crushing margins encouraged buying. <CNC-SOY-IMP>

September soybean arrivals from Brazil rose 23% compared to the same month a year ago to 8.45 million tons.

For the January-September period, total shipments from Brazil rose 13% from the same period last year to 62.24 million tons. Arrivals from the U.S. fell 15% for the period to 14.55 million metric tons.

Brazil supplied 226,307 tons of corn to China last month, 37% of the total arrivals. (Reporting by Mei Mei Chu; Editing by William Mallard)