Argentina recovers soybean meal exports, but continues to lag behind

Published Sep 16, 2024

Tridge summary

Argentina, the leading global exporter of soybean meal since 1997/98, was surpassed by Brazil in the 2022/23 season due to a severe drought. In early 2024, Argentina's exports rebounded by 46% compared to the previous year, yet its production still trails behind competitors with a 42% idle capacity over the last three seasons. Despite having fewer but more efficient processing plants concentrated around Rosario, Argentina faces growing competition from the U.S. and Brazil, whose domestic consumption limits their export volumes. Argentina remains a key player in the soybean meal market but must navigate increasing competition.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Since the 1997/98 season, Argentina has been the main global exporter of this product. However, during the 2022/23 season, the country suffered the worst drought in the last 60 years, seriously affecting its production and crushing capacity. Faced with this scenario, Brazil surpassed Argentina as the leading exporter of soybean meal for the first time in 25 years. Data for the first half of 2024 show a remarkable recovery in the volume of soybean meal exported by Argentina, with an increase of 46% compared to the same period in 2023, thanks to its production returning to normal. However, despite the year-on-year growth, when analyzing the performance in the medium term, Argentina's production lags behind its closest competitors. It is important to note that this moderate growth is affected by an idle capacity that has hovered around 42% during the last three seasons with normal production. Compared to Brazil and the United States, Argentina has fewer processing plants, but they ...

Source: Pig 333