January 3, 2006

 

Brazil's 2006/07 soybean registrations pick up in December

 

 

Registrations of Brazilian soybean exports for the 2006/07 season picked up again in the second half of December as rising soy prices on the CBOT brought producers to market, official figures showed on Monday.

 

Soybean export registrations to Dec 15 reached 2.33 million tonnes, roughly 500,000 tonnes less than the 1.83 million tonnes registered on Nov 30, but well ahead of the 850,000 tonnes registered from the same period of the season last year, according to government figures released by the Brazilian Vegetable Oils Industry Association (Abiove).

 

The 2006/07 registrations are still far lower than the 6.2 million tonnes seen at the same point of the 2004/05 season, when international soy prices, China soybean demand and favourable exchange rates between the Brazilian real and the US dollar heated up the soy export market.

 

Abiove maintains its 2006/07 soybean export forecast at 24.5 million tonnes, compared with an estimated 22.1 million tonnes the government expects soy producers sold internationally in the 2005/06 crop.

 

Soybean registrations to date equal just 10 percent of estimated exports, higher than the 3.8 percent registered at the same point a year ago, but far lower than the 33 percent registered in 2004/05.

 

Meanwhile, soymeal registrations for the 2006/07 season rose 36,000 tonnes from Nov 30 to 439,000 tonnes. In the 2005/06 period, 418,000 tonnes of soymeal were registered for exports.

 

The trend has been for the Brazilian soy market to export less soybean derivatives as high taxes, logistical problems and a strong local currency has caused Brazilian soymeal to lose market share to Argentina. In 2004/05, for instance, Brazil soymeal registrations totalled 1.5 million tonnes.

 

Soymeal exports are expected to end the 2006/07 season at 13 million tonnes, down from an estimated 13.5 million tonnes expected from the 2005/06 crop.

 

Soyoil export registrations to Dec 15 totalled 31,000 tonnes, up from 30,000 tonnes two weeks ago, and down marginally from the 34,000 tonnes at the same point last year.

 

Exports for soyoil for 2006/07 are put at 2.45 million tonnes, down from the 2.5 million tonnes expected to end the 2005/06 season and equivalent to the 2.45 million tonnes exported in 2004/05 season.

 

Brazil is the world's second largest soybean producer after the US.