EU ramps up soybean meal imports as domestic stocks fall

The European Union retains its leadership among global importers of soybean meal in the 2024/25 season, Oil World reports. From September to June, EU countries received 18.5 million tons of the product from Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Paraguay and Ukraine, which is 4.2 million tons more than in the same period last year.

Analysts explain the increase in supplies by a decrease in sunflower and rapeseed meal stocks on the EU domestic market – by almost 2 million tons, as well as a shift in demand in favor of soybean meal amid more favorable prices.

Additional growth in imports was also provided by India – 535 thousand tons (58 thousand tons more than a year earlier), and China – 133 thousand tons (against 105 thousand tons a year earlier).

Overall, soybean meal exports from the top five exporting countries totalled 59.31 million tonnes in the first 10 months of the season, 7.2 million tonnes more than in the same period in 2023/24.

• Argentina: 24.1 million tonnes (+5.6 million tonnes)
• Brazil: 19.2 million tonnes (+0.7 million tonnes)
• USA: 13.6 million tonnes (+1.1 million tonnes)
• Paraguay: 1.25 million tonnes
• Ukraine: 1.07 million tonnes

The increase in supplies reflects structural changes in the European feed ingredient market and the EU’s growing dependence on external protein sources.

Tags: EU, soybean meal