MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China takes 52,5 million tons of Brazilian soy in eleven months of 2022

Volume is 13% lower than the 60.476 million tons in similar period of 2021, but China remains the largest buyer of Brazilian oilseed.

In the eleven months of 2022, China imported 52.464 million tons of soybeans from Brazil, according to data from the latest Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex), a department of the Ministry of Economy.

Volume is 13% lower than the 60.476 million tons in similar period of 2021, but China remains the largest buyer of Brazilian oilseed.

Spain ranked second with 3.281 million tons, down 9% from last year’s period. Thailand ranked third with 2.614 million tons, down 8% year on year.

Overall, Brazilian soybean exports totaled 77.033 million tons in 2022, while in the same period last year, the volume reached 86.11 million tons.

In related news, the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (Abiove), anticipates the country's soy oil exports in 2023 are expected to reach 1.6 million tons, a 33% decrease from 2022. Brazil this year, is expected to see the highest level of soy oil shipments in 16 years.

Domestic demand for vegetable oil will be higher in 2023, when a return to higher levels of biodiesel blend in diesel is expected, reducing the product’s availability for export.

The most recent soybean oil export projection for 2022 stood at 2.4 million tons, 200,000 tons more than Abiove’s October projection. The volume exposes the highest level of vegetable oil shipments since 2006 when the country exported 2.419 million tons, a 750 thousand-ton increase over 2021.

Edible oil exports were intense this year, despite a 10% reduction in biodiesel mix, as the sector found a promising substitute market abroad: India made large purchases of the soybean by-product from Brazil, as the country tried to offset the shortage of Ukrainian sunflower, hampered by the war.

According to Abiove, the strong demand for soybean oil – with output estimated at a record level of more than 10 million tons – helped to boost oilseed processing in 2022, which totaled 49.7 million tons of the grain, 700 thousand tons above the previous projection and about 2 million tons more than in 2021.

This context also increased soybean meal production, an important component of animal feed. As a result, this sector’s output should grow to an unprecedented 38 million tons, while exports will also reach 20.2 million tons versus 17.2 million in 2021.