USDA experts raised the forecast for global imports of meals and pulps to a record 103.9 million tons

In the February forecast, USDA experts raised the forecast for global imports of meals and pulps for the fourth consecutive month in 2024/25 MY. It is expected that global imports of meals will amount to 103.99 million tons, including soybean - 73.01 million tons, rapeseed - 10.35 million tons, sunflower - 8.6 million tons.

In recent years, China has been the world's largest producer of soybean meal, which is produced mainly from imported soybeans. In the period 2013/14 MY - 2017/18 MY, the share of meal obtained from imported raw materials averaged 93%. However, it has recently decreased due to increased imports of alternative feed components, primarily sunflower and rapeseed meal.

According to the US Food and Agriculture Organization, in the 2018/19 marketing year, China began to actively purchase sunflower meal, mainly from Ukraine, and from 2022, the Russian Federation was added to the main suppliers.

In December, Ukraine exported 96 thousand tons of soybean meal, which is the highest monthly figure since May 2019. Overall, from September to December 2024/25 MY, export volume increased by 12% compared to the previous season to 278 thousand tons.

The increase in soybean meal exports from Ukraine is due to active demand from the EU. Soybean processing has become more economically profitable for factories, which has contributed to its increase. At the same time, the margin of soybean processing in Ukraine is gradually decreasing due to the fall in soybean meal prices.