US soymeal exports to Southeast Asia hit record highs

 

 

US soymeal exports to Southeast Asia are at their highest level in nearly a decade after drought-hit Argentina sharply reduced exports this year while India exports slowed amid thin crushing margins.

 

According to John A. Lindblom, regional director for southeast Asia at the American Soybean Association, exports in the October 1-April 8 (2009-10) period have been estimated at 1.9 million tonnes, up from just around 450,000 tonnes in the same period last year. US market share in Southeast Asia rose to more than 20% during this period, up from 9% last year.

 

US soymeal exports to Southeast Asia are already slowing amid the South American harvest, but overall exports are likely to exceed two million tonnes in the marketing year ending September, up from 800,000 tonnes in 2008-09, Lindbolm said.

 

Traditionally, Southeast Asian buyers ship large volumes of soymeal from India during the October-March period. As Indian farmers held stocks back amid lower crushing margins, buyers were forced to buy from the US earlier this year. Meanwhile, Argentina was hit by a devastating drought last year, reducing exports from that country.

 

Lindblom said Vietnam, usually a major buyer of Argentine and Indian soymeal has bought 300,000 tonnes of soymeal from the US since October. Almost half of the Philippines' annual demand of 1.3-1.5 million tonnes of soymeal has also been met by US suppliers.

 

Along with soymeal, soy sales are also on the rise due to the recovery in poultry demand after the recession, he said.

 

US soy exports to Southeast Asia rose to 1.7 million tonnes during the September 1-April 8 period, from 1.1 million tonnes a year earlier. Soy exports to Southeast Asia may reach two million tonnes in the current marketing year, he said. The US exported around 1.8 million tonnes of soy to the region in 2008-09.

 

Soy demand was severely hit in the first half of 2008-09 amid the global recession. Thailand's export of aquaculture products to Europe, for example, had taken a beating but is now recovering.

 

While it was the drought in Argentine last year that mainly boosted US soy and soymeal exports to the region, such high market share is difficult to maintain in 2010-11, Lindblom said.

 

Argentina's soy output is likely to reach a record 53 million tonnes this year, up from 32 million tonnes in 2008-09, according to an estimate by the USDA.