September 4, 2008

US soy sales to Southeast Asia are likely to bounce back this year as demand returns to normal in Indonesia, the region's top importer, a senior U.S. industry official said on Wednesday (September 3, 2008). 

Soy exports from the US are expected to rise to around 3 million tonnes, after plunging 43 percent to 1.7 million tonnes in the year to August 2008, said John Lindblom, regional director of the American Soybean Association.

Consumption in Indonesia is would return to normal levels and exports should improve, Lindblom told Reuters.

Indonesia imports most of the 1.5 million tonnes of soy it needs from the US.

CBOT soy prices were nearly 22 percent off their July peak due to high prices and low demand recently.

However, US soymeal shipments to the region soared about 60 percent to around 800,000 tonnes due to a farmers' strike in Argentina, the world's biggest supplier.