EU soybean meal imports up 24%, exceeding last year’s level

According to the European Commission, the EU’s total soybean meal imports reached 15.77 million tonnes in 2024/25 as of 4 May, up 24% year-on-year and above the 15.7 million tonnes for the full year 2023/24. The increase was mainly due to a sharp increase in imports from Argentina.

Brazil remains the largest supplier of soybean meal to the EU, with imports of 7.9 million tonnes as of early May 2025, up 2.7% from 7.69 million tonnes in the same period last year. But the country’s share has fallen from 60.4% last year to 50.1% this year.

Argentina is the second largest supplier with 5.73 million tons of soybeans, up 119% from 2.61 million tons in the same period last year; the country’s share has increased significantly from 20.5% in the same period last year to 36.3%, due to production recovery and lower export duties.

Ukraine, the third largest supplier, supplied 760 thousand tons of meal to the EU, up from 430 thousand tons in the same period last year; the country’s share has increased from 3.4% to 4.8%.

Earlier it became known that the EU has increased imports of soybeans and rapeseed and reduced imports of vegetable oils since the beginning of the season. In particular, imports from Russia have decreased almost fivefold.

Tags: EU, soybean meal