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Oilseeds World Markets and Trade November 2008
China has seen record soybean imports while Brazil has reduced exports and Argentina is seeing exports rise, according to the Oilseeds World Market and Trade Report by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service for November, writes Chris Harris, Senior Editor, TheBioenergySite.
Record Monthly Chinese Soybean Imports from Late Season Buying Surge
The record soybean imports seen by China are a product of erratic international prices and a perceived need to expand food security stocks, the report says.
As a result, imports ended the year at an historic 37.8 million tonnes, nearly one-third higher than the previous year.
The report says that there are indications that the surge late in the season will continue in the months to come and already figures show that China's commitments are 25 per cent ahead of last year.
However, the USDA expects the high pace to fall off later in the year as potentially limited soybean production in South America reduces available supplies.
PRICES
The October US soybean export bids, FOB Gulf, averaged $366 per tonne. This was down by $88 from September.
The sharp drop has been put down to pressure from financial market uncertainty and declining petroleum prices.
US soybean exports for the first two months of the current marketing year are strong, the USDA says.
The Export Sales report for the week ending 30 October shows total commitments standing at 15.1 million tonnes, compared to 13.1 million in the same period last year.
TRADE CHANGES IN 2008/09
Brazil soybean exports are have fallen by 1.5 million tonnes to 25.7 million tonnes. This is because of a smaller crop prospect.
Soybean meal exports have also been reduced by 300,000 tonnes to 12.5 million tonnes.
However, neighbouring Argentina has seen soybean exports increase by 800,000 tonnes to 15.2 million tonnes in response to lower Brazilian production.
Meal exports have fallen as beans are being taken away from the crush.
India soybean meal exports fell by 250,000 tonnes to 4.5 million tonnes because more is going on to the domestic market.
EU 27 soybean meal imports dropped by 200,000 tonnes to 22.8 million tonnes because of expected larger supplies of feed grains in the region.
Argentina soybean oil exports have fallen by 155,000 tonnes to 5.8 million tonnes because of the smaller crush prospect.
EU 27 sunflower seed exports have also fallen by 400,000 tonnes to 325,000 tonnes because there are abundant supplies in major trading partner countries.
Ukraine sunflower seed meal exports went up by 125,000 tonnes to 1.6 million tonnes because of the record crop and crush.
US palm oil imports also rose by 130,000 tonnes to 1.1 million tonnes thanks to a projected increase in food use.
November 2008
