April 30, 2008

Israel to source its 2007/08 soy imports from Mercosur

Israel has signed a free trade agreement with Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay), inking the first four-year deal that reduces soymeal tariffs by 4 percent and 4.5 percent after the period. This, however, threatens the competitiveness of soymeal from US soymeal, which has been Israel's main source of the product for years.

The USDA reports that Israel's soymeal imports for 2007/08 increased by 8 percent while oilmeal imports decreased by 44 percent compared to the same period in the previous year.  In 2006/07 (October through September), the US market share for soy totalled 36 percent while meal sales sharply rose to 18.5 percent from 0 percent in 2005/06.

High shipping and US soymeal costs are expected to decrease US soymeal exportsto Israel by 20 to 25 thousand tonnes compared to 75 thousand tonnes from the previous period.

For more of the USDA report, please click here