Processinglargeramountsofsoybean
couldincreasetheproductionofsoy
mealto31.5milliontonsin2017,up4.2%
fromthepreviousyear
SHIPPINGOWNERS
Largest soybean producer in the Country the State of MatoGrosso is themain
meal exporter, with shipments amounting to 4.891million tons andUS$ 1.886
billion in 2016. It was followed by Paraná, with the shipment of 3.369million
ton, andUS$ 1.163 billion. The positions that followwere occupied by Rio
Grande do Sul (2.511million tons andUS$ 886.185million) andGoiás (1.531
million tons andUS$ 556.617million), alongwith eight other states.
R
ecord soybean supply, of near-
ly 114 million tons, will equally
drive the production of soymeal
forward. The estimated volume
in 2017 is 31.5 million tons. This
volume is up 4.2% from the 30.229 million
tons produced in 2016, according to data
released by the Brazilian Vegetable Oil In-
dustries Association (Abiove).
Production amounted to 14.493million
tons from January to July 2017. The sector
had also estimated the production of 32.7
million tons of soy meal for 2018, despite
the initial estimate of a smaller crop com-
pared to last year. So far, the biggest vol-
ume, 30.765 million tons, had been pro-
duced in 2015.
The domestic and foreign markets de-
mand similar volumes of meal. In Sep-
tember 2017, Abiove officials estimated
domestic consumption at 16 million tons
by year’s end, meaning an increase of 1%
from the 15.837 million tons consolidated
the previous year. In the first sevenmonths
in 2017, total demand had reached 7.109
million tons. Soybean is a major rawmate-
rial of the livestock feed industry.
Food
chain
Sector’s target is to shipabroad 15.7million tons, up 10.3%
per ton ofmeal, US$ 30 less than in 2016.
Brazil shipped meal to 65 countries in
2016.With the importation of 2,817 million
tons, equivalent to US$ 1.083 billion. Hol-
land (Netherlands) continues as themain cli-
ent. The secondbiggestshipmentwassentto
France, a total of 1.801million tons, and reve-
nueofUS$614.459million.Slightlybiggervol-
umes, nearly 1.5 million tons, were shipped
toThailand, SouthKoreaand Indonesia.
“To improve the presence of products
with higher added value in the soybean
chain (meal and oil) in markets like China
and other countries in Asia, is Abiove’s tar-
get, says Fabio Trigueirinho, executive sec-
retary at the entity. One of the priorities of
the sector is toaccess China, whichproduc-
es the entire amount ofmeal demandedby
the domestic market The liberation of a
quota of 5 million tons of soy meal to this
Asian country was being negotiated by the
federal government and Chinese authori-
ties. The largest consumption of soy meal
in the world, 66.6 million tons a year, take
place in China.
n
A more positive result is expected from
exports of soybean meal in 2017. Abiove
sources expect to come to year’s end with
shipments of 15.7 million tons, up 10.3%
from the 14.238 million tons in the previ-
ous year. From January to August 2017,
meal shipments amounted to 9.992 million
tons, from numbers furnished by the Agro-
stat System, adivisionof theMinistryof Agri-
culture, Livestock and Food Supply (Mapa).
Nonetheless, according to Abiove offi-
cials, with prices on the decline in the inter-
national scenario, revenue from soy meal
exports tends to remain below the amount
fetched in 2016. Volumes so far shipped
abroad are estimated at US$ 5.181 billion in
2017, result that fails to reach the US$ 5.193
billion achieved in the previous year. The
forecast is for an average price of US$ 330
Inor Ag. Assmann
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