EU buys more than 53% of its soybean imports from the US

The European Union (EU) is the second-largest market for US soybeans, behind only China. However, the bloc recently announced retaliatory tariffs of 25% on US agricultural products, including soybeans, in response to tariffs imposed by the US on steel and aluminum imports.

European producers expect the move to hurt US soybean sales, according to Biofuels International.

After Brazil, the US is the world’s second-largest soybean supplier. With total national production at just under 119 million tonnes, US soybean exports are expected to exceed 50 million tonnes this season. While China is the main recipient of these cargoes, the EU also imports a significant share, making it the second-most important market for the US.

The EU purchased a total of 13.1 million tonnes of soybeans from abroad last crop year, according to the EU Commission. Of these, about 5.9 million tonnes came from Brazil and 5.3 million tonnes from the US, accounting for almost 41% of total imports.

The picture is somewhat different this season. The EU received about 9.6 million tonnes of soybeans from abroad, with the US accounting for the largest share at 5.1 million tonnes, or just over 53%.

The Brazilian harvest, which is a record and is estimated at more than 169 million tonnes, will soon begin to hit the market, meaning that the bulk of beans will come from South America until the end of the year. EU importers will also likely turn to South American and Ukrainian suppliers to meet their needs. In such a scenario, the losers would be US soybean producers, as they would lose an important market, the European agency notes.

Tags: EU, soybean, USA