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Soybean meal demand strong as China buying remains unclear

An ag trade specialist says it remains to be seen if China will follow through on commitments to purchase U.S. soybeans.

Matt Herman is the chief officer of demand and advocacy for the Iowa Soybean Association…

“China has currently agreed to purchase up to 12 million metric tons,” he said. “There’s been discussions to try to move that number up to 25 million metric tons, nothing hard that I’ve seen. One big challenge to moving that number up above 12 – even outside of any agreement – will be removing that 10% fentanyl tariff that’s still in place.”

He tells Brownfield U.S. producers have benefitted from a boost in sales of soybean meal.

“Soybean meal exports have risen dramatically coming out of 2021 and we expect them to continue to rise,” he said. “That’s a nice way for us to diversify outside of China because historically they have not been a purchaser of soybean meal.”

The USDA’s latest weekly export sales report showed a batch of new crop soybean sales to China, signs that Beijing might be ramping up purchases even as Brazil maintains a hold over the global market due to price.

Herman spoke to Brownfield at a recent ISA Summer Soy Series event.