MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil dominates increasing share of China's soybean market

Chinese buyers are snapping up Brazilian soybeans for delivery in October, a time of year when US exports are typically at their peak

The world’s soybean market is dominated by one major buyer: China, and for years, Mercosur's leading member Brazil has taken an increasingly bigger share of that trade away from the US. So much so that Brazilian shippers are even starting to dominate during the typical season lull.

Chinese buyers are snapping up Brazilian soybeans for delivery in October, a time of year when US exports are typically at their peak and more deals for the fourth quarter are still likely to be done, according to market sources quoted by Economic Indian Times News.

The sales come as Brazil is reaping a record crop and offering much lower prices than rival producers. They also reflect President Lula da Silva’s plan to seek closer ties with China as part of his growth plan for Latin America’s largest economy.

“We still have competitive premiums for at least another month or so,” Thiago Milani, head of trading and origination for 3Tentos, a family-owned agribusiness company in Brazil, said referring to the country’s shipping prices.

US farmers are losing their competitive edge in the global agriculture markets as Brazilian production expands. Geopolitical tensions have also prompted China to seek deeper ties with the South American Mercosur trade block and its members, (particularly Brazil, Argentina and so some extent Uruguay), to try and reduce its historical reliance on Washington.

Lula’s plan to deepen relations with China includes getting more funding from the Asian nation and reducing the role of the dollar in foreign trade transactions. A Brazilian delegation’s trip to China earlier this year yielded more than 15 agreements worth about US$ 10 billion in Chinese investment pledges.

It’s currently profitable for Chinese processors to crush Brazilian beans to make cooking oil and animal feed, whereas margins are negative for US supplies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. As a result, Chinese buyers are snapping up Brazilian cargoes earlier in the season.

In fact, purchases were so early that there are already five vessels scheduled to pick up cargoes in Brazil in September, according to Alphamar shipping agency. This is the earliest ever in the season for that kind of trade, shipping data show.

“There’s huge stocks at farms now that will find their way to the ports over the next few months, so we will see more vessels on the lineup soon,” said Arthur Neto, Alphamar’s commercial director.

The purchases also come as US crops, which typically get harvested starting in September, are under pressure from hot, dry weather. In June, the American soy crop was in the worst condition in three decades, before rains returned to the Midwest.

Still, the weather is now set to turn hot and dry again. Soybean futures in Chicago are up more than 5% this quarter to about US$ 14.20 a bushel.

“From the weather point of view, the chance of an improvement in crop conditions isn’t high,” Chinese broker Huatai Futures said in a report last Friday. “The supply of new-season US soybean crop is unlikely to expand greatly.”