Paraguay’s Soybean Exports Surge Ahead of Argentina’s

Extreme drought in Argentina has crippled the country’s soybean production, with original production estimates of 55 million tonnes now sitting at 39 million tonnes for this year. The country has even imported whole soybeans from the United States for crushing to compensate for domestic losses. Exports have taken a blow as well, down from 7.02 million tonnes last year to just 4.2 million tonnes for 2017/18.

At the same time, Paraguay has increased both production and exports of their soybean crop. Production is forecast to reach 10 million tonnes for 2017/18, and exports are expected to hit 6.3 million tonnes, surpassing Argentine exports for the first time. Due to their typically higher protein content, Paraguayan whole soybeans are usually shipped to Argentina for crushing to make soybean meal for high-quality livestock feed. Paraguay hopes to double production over the next 10 years, and the country could export more of its crop to foreign markets like China. Gro Intelligence subscribers can monitor production and trade data to stay current with global soybean market trends.