March 11, 2009
EU seen to reduce soy imports in coming months
The EU is likely to reduce its soy imports in coming months as oilseed crushers switch to rapeseed and sunflower seed, according to Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World forecast on Tuesday (Mar 10).
Analysts estimated EU Sept 2008/Aug 2009 soy imports to fall to 13.75 million tonnes from 15.18 million tonnes in 2007/08.
Brazil is likely to be a major loser, with its 2008/09 soy exports to the EU likely to fall to 8.70 million tonnes from 9.09 million tonnes in 2007/09.
Forecasts also show that US 2008/09 exports to the EU are expected to drop to 2.90 million tonnes from 3.60 million tonnes, Paraguay's to 850,000 tonnes from 965,000 tonnes and Argentina's to 260,000 tonnes from 375,000 tonnes.
Analysts also said that in 27 countries in the EU, there is a clear-cut shift in crushings from soy to rapeseed in 2008/09.
Forecasts showed that the combined EU Oct 2008/Sept 2009 crushings of the major oilseeds in the EU will rise to a record 39.6 million tonnes, up by 0.5 million tonnes on the year.
They added that this includes increases in rapeseed by about 1.0 million tonnes and sunseed by 1.3 million tonnes but a decline in soy by approximately 1.7 to 1.8 million tonnes.
