January 2, 2006

 

US soybean producers look to Indonesia for market

 

 

US soybean producers say the market for soy-enriched products continues to grow in Indonesia after last year's tsunami.

 

International Relief and Development (IRD), a Virginia-based private voluntary organisation, helped distribute noodles containing US soy-enriched flour in Indonesia after the disaster on Dec 26, 2004.

 

Gregg Nelson, a market manager for Cargill Texturizing Solutions based in Cedar Rapids, which distributes soy products in Indonesia, said he's optimistic about the growing market for such products. He said soy products offer better nutrition and can help reduce the protein deficit in Indonesia.

 

American soybean farmer organisations were working on soy development in Indonesia before the tsunami struck, and assisted IRD. The organisation receives funding from the USDA for the products.

 

"IRD had soy products in Indonesia, and basically when the tsunami hit, they turned it over to the Indonesian ministry," said Karen Edwards, spokeswoman for the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health Programme, which helped in the efforts.

 

According to the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA), manufacturers are offering soy-enriched steam dried noodles in commercial markets in Java, Bali and Lombok. Those areas were not hit by the tsunami.

 

Last month, the USDA provided 1,700 tonnes of soy flour from the Cargill plant, and 25,000 tonnes of wheat for companies in central Java that makes soy-enriched noodles, the ISA said.

 

"These little noodle manufacturers have been churning out these noodles and selling them successfully ... throughout Indonesia," Edwards said.

 

ISA directors recently returned from a trip to Indonesia and the Philippines, where they met with buyers, hoping to regain a market share that was lost in 2003 when a soybean shortage led countries to buy from South America and India.

 

Indonesia imports more than 1.3 million tonnes of soymeal and one million tonnes of soybeans each year. Much of the soy meal is used in livestock and fish farming, according to an ISA release.

 

Now, the challenge may be getting the right price for the soy products.

 

"They all want cheap soy meal and soybeans, but they also want high quality," Curt Sindergard, the director of ISA, said in a statement. "They have to realize that high quality beans like those grown here in Iowa do not come at a cheap price, but that they're worth every penny."