Higher U.S. Soybean Meal Exports to Europe Create Marketing Opportunity
John Baize
The 27 countries that comprise the European Union (EU) have long been the world’s largest importer of soybean meal. The EU’s annual imports of soybean meal over the last 5 marketing years have averaged 22.7 million metric tons (mmt) or the equivalent of the meal in about 1.05 billion bushels of soybeans. Unfortunately, the U.S. has seen its share of EU soybean meal imports decline to almost nothing in the last decade as a result of aggressive competition from Argentina and Brazil and inadequate attention to quality on the part of European feed manufacturers and animal feeders. Over the last five marketing years the U.S. exported less than 1 percent of total EU soymeal imports. Argentina and Brazil together have supplied over 96 percent of total EU soybean meal imports in the last 5 years.
The U.S. has seen its exports of soybeans meal to the EU increase dramatically in the 2009/10 marketing year because of short supplies in South America. Thus far U.S. exporters have shipped 1,010,700 mt of soybean meal (equal to meal in 47.3 million bushels of soybeans) to the EU since October 1, 2009. The largest importing countries have been Poland, Ireland, and France.
The surge in U.S. soybean meal exports to Europe has allowed many animal feeders to use U.S. soybean meal for the first time in many years and see the results of its higher nutrient content in the performance of their animals. It has also allowed the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), the soybean checkoff’s international marketing contractor, to educate European animal feeders on the higher digestible amino acid and metabolizable energy content of U.S. soybean meal. USSEC already has conducted seminars for animal feeders in Italy, Romania, Ireland and the United Kingdom and later this month will do the same in Portugal, Spain, and France. At the seminars respected European animal nutritionists are showing the feeders how they can boost their animal’s performance and save money by using U.S. soybean meal instead of meal from other origins. Studies have shown European feeders can afford to pay up to $33/mt more for U.S. soybean meal because of its superior nutrient content and availability. The goal of the USSEC marketing efforts is to convince European feeders to better analyze the soybean meal they purchase and to value it based on its nutrient content. The hope is that these programs will result in the U.S. maintaining and building upon the big increase in U.S. soybean meal exports to the EU this year.
