Indonesian imports of soyabean meal increased by 200,000 tonnes in August bringing the 2024/25 total to 6.2M tonnes, a 1.1M tonne year-on-year increase, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Soyabean meal use as a major feed input by the country’s poultry and aquaculture industries meant imports of the commodity were expected to rise alongside an increase in domestic protein demand, the August Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade report said.
In a separate Oilseeds and Products Update report, the USDA revised soyabean meal consumption for 2024/25 to 5.4M tonnes due to higher demand from the poultry feed industry.
The soyabean meal consumption forecast for 2025/26 was also slightly up at 5.5M tonnes due to continued demand from the feed sector, the 6 August report said.
Compared to the same period the previous year, soyabean meal shipments from South America rose by 28% from October 2024 to May 2025.
In 2023/24, soyabean meal imports were lower as Indonesia’s feed industry faced culling mandates and high input costs that lowered demand, the Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade report said.
Argentina had consistently been Indonesia’s top supplier of soyabean meal but, in 2022/23, a drought decreased both soyabean meal production and exports by over 20%, the USDA said.
During the same period, Brazil increased soyabean meal production, leading to a 30% increase in exports between 2020/21 and 2022/23.
Since 2022/23, Brazil had maintained its dominance as Indonesia’s largest supplier of soyabean meal, accounting for nearly 80% of imports in 2023/24, the report said.
Although the USA is Indonesia’s top supplier of soyabeans with nearly 90% market share in 2023/24, it captured only 3% of Indonesia’s soyabean meal market in the same year as the third largest supplier after Brazil and Argentina.
Indonesia imports whole soyabeans for food use in tempeh and tofu production, while soyabean meal imports are mainly used in the feed industry.
The country’s poultry sector uses most of the soyabean meal, and out of 94 feed millers across Indonesia, 90 are linked to the poultry feed sector with soyabean meal typically comprising 25% of the feed composition, according to the 6 August USDA report.
