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.
Brazil’s soybean exports are expected to come in 14-18% down on the year in 2019 due to lower production and reduced buying by China, industry reports showed.
Brazil is expected to win a larger share of China’s soybean imports in coming months, hitting U.S. exporters during the peak marketing season for their most valuable farm product as the world grapples with a fifth consecutive bumper crop.
China's imports of key commodities eased in January after the record high set in December, as expected as the earlier heavy purchases to take advantage of weak prices had swollen inventories, preliminary customs data released has shown.