With Argentina expected to export its lowest volume of soyabean meal this year since 2003, Brazil could become the leading global exporter in the 2022/23 marketing year, according to data from Buenos Aires-based Rosario Grains Exchange BCR reported by AgriCensus.
Argentina has been the world’s leading soyabean meal exporter since 1998 with the commodity being the country’s main export product, the 4 April report said.
However, the grain exchange had forecast soyabean meal production in Argentina at 20.9M tonnes in the current marketing year due to severe drought conditions and soyabean meal exports at 20M tonnes, AgriCensus wrote.
Meanwhile, the USDA has projected Brazil’s soyabean meal production at 40.8M tonnes and its exports at 21.1M tonnes in 2022/23.
Brazilian food agency Conab has forecast the country’s soyabean meal production at 40.3M tonnes and exports at 20M tonnes, the report said.
If BCR’s projections are realised, it would put Brazil ahead of Argentina in terms of soyabean meal exports, according to the report.
With Argentina facing its worst drought in the past 60 years, in its latest forecasts published on 14 April, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) lowered its estimates for soyabean production in the country to 23.9M tonnes – its lowest level in 24 years.
Brazil was expected to harvest its biggest soyabean crop on record this season, with the USDA estimating production at 153M tonnes and Conab putting the figure at 151.4M tonnes.
The USDA and Conab both forecast soyabean crushing in Brazil to reach 52.7M tonnes in 2022/33, the report said.
