Argentina overtakes Brazil and regains its position as the world's leading exporter of soybean meal

Data from the first half of 2024 reveal a notable recovery in the volume of soybean meal exported by Argentina, which has put the country back at the top of the world ranking of the largest exporters of the commodity, overtaking Brazil. According to data from the Rosario Stock Exchange, since the 1997/98 harvest, Argentina has remained the world's leading exporter of soybean meal. However, during the 2022/23 season, the country suffered the worst drought in the last 60 years, which seriously affected its production and milling capacity. In this context, Brazil surpassed Argentina as the main exporter of soybean meal for the first time in 25 years. Compared to Brazil and the United States (another major producer of the commodity), Argentina has a smaller number of soybean crushing plants, but they are larger and more efficient, so that the total annual processing capacity is comparable to that of the neighboring country and not far from that of the North Americans. At the same ...