Thanks to China's soaring demand for soya products, soybeans are the most imported agricultural commodity in the world both in terms of value and quantity.

The United States, Brazil, Argentina and China produced 200 million metric tonnes of soybeans in 2005, 90% of the global total in 2005.

China is a dominant player on the world trade stage for soybeans. If China’s demand for soybeans continues at its current rate, soon the People’s Republic will import more than half of the world’s soybean imports while U.S. market share of soybean exports continues to decrease.

Soybeans are a versatile food product. Soya products include soy flour, soy milk, soybean oil, tofu, and textured vegetable protein (TVP) which are used to create vegetarian foods like Okara burgers. Soybeans are also a principal ingredient for soy sauce.

Top Soybean Producers

America led the world in soybean production in 2005, with an output of 84 million metric tonnes. Second-place Brazil produced 57 million tonnes, followed by Argentina with 41 million tonnes and China with 18 million tonnes.

America’s average annual growth rate of soybean production over the past 4 decades is 5% compared to Brazil’s more robust 14% average annual increase. Experts expect Brazil to overtake America as the world’s largest soybean producer within a few years.

Boasting an average annual increase of 27%, Argentinean soybean production has risen even faster than Brazil. Both South American nations have become strong competitors for the U.S. in the world soybean market.

Top Soybean Consumers

In 2005, the U.S. was the number one soybean consumer in the world. The list below reveals other leading soybean consuming countries.

1. United States … 51 million tonnes (61% of U.S. production)
2. Brazil … 32 million tonnes (56% of Brazilian production)
3. Argentina … 31 million tonnes (76% of Argentinean production)
4. China … 45 million tonnes (250% of Chinese production)

European Union nations consumed 15 million tonnes of soybean products in 2005.

China continues to experience the fastest growth in soybean consumption. Increased incomes in the People’s Republic are fuelling increased demand for soyoil. As well, more soymeal is being used as feed in China’s developing livestock industry.

The following list shows the three soybean-producing nations that are best-positioned to benefit from China’s accelerating demand for soybeans.

Top Soybean Exporters

Brazil, America and Argentina generated over 92% of global soybean exports in 2005.

1. Brazil … 25 million tonnes (39% of world soybean exports)
2. United States … 24 million tonnes (37%)
3. Argentina … 10 million tonnes (16%)

Brazil became the world’s largest soybean exporter in 2005, surpassing the U.S. for the first time. America’s share of global soybean exports has declined from 73% in 1995 to 37% in 2005.

In contrast, Brazil’s percentage of world soybean exports jumped from 11% to 39% over the same period. Similarly, Argentina’s market share rose from 6% to 16% in just 10 years.

Top Soybean Importers

Below are the leading soybean importers in 2005. The top 4 importers tallied about three-quarters total global soybean imports.

1. China … 27 million tonnes (41% of world soybean imports)
2. European Union … 14 million tonnes (22%)
3. Japan … 4 million tonnes (6%)
4. Mexico … 4 million tonnes (6%)

Chinese soybean imports have skyrocketed by more than 27 times from 0.8 million tonnes in 1995. In addition to the robust domestic appetite for soy products, extensive investment in soybean crushing facilities in Chinese coastal cities has added to China’s escalating demand for imported soybeans.

This article presents independent calculations and insights based on key statistics from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (fao.org) and data in the paper "Market Power and Competitive Analysis of China’s Soybean Import Market".

Sources for this Article