EU DATA: Soybean meal imports down 40% in 2020-21 marketing year

New Delhi — The EU's soybean meal imports fell 40% year on year to 0.5 million mt in the 2020-21 marketing year (July-June), while raw soybean purchases were down 19% at 0.53 million mt, according to a European Commission report released July 13.

Brazilian and Argentinian soybean exporters are facing supply bottlenecks as the farmers have started hoarding their stocks in the hope of price rises in the coming months, market sources said. With US-China tensions rising, the Brazilian real and Argentinian peso falling and dry weather expected in the US, farmers are reluctant to sell currently.

Since the start of the 2020-21 marketing year, Brazilian soybean meal accounted for 57.6% of the EU's imports at 0.29 million mt, while Argentina -- the world's top soybean meal supplier -- held a 36.4% share at 0.18 million mt, the data showed.

RAW SOYBEAN IMPORTS

The Netherlands remained the EU's top buyer of raw beans, followed by Denmark and Italy.

Brazil's market share of EU imports was 89.6% or 0.47 million mt in 2020-21, while the Argentinian share was at 6%, or 0.03 million mt.

The other major soybean suppliers to the EU were Ukraine, Serbia and US, the report said.

The EU's soybean meal imports rose 1% year on year to 18.05 million mt in the 2019-20, while raw soybean purchases were up 1% at 15.36 million mt, according to a European Commission report released July 7.

The EU is world's largest soybean meal importer and second largest raw beans buyer.