Taiwan will increase soybean imports due to rising feed demand

After animal disease reduced feed demand in Taiwan last year, consumption is expected to rebound in the 2023-24 marketing year, leading to higher soybean imports, according to a report from the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). Soybean imports are forecast to increase by 3.5% to 2.65 million tonnes to meet increased feed demand, which FAS says is "driven by a recovery in the pig and poultry sectors." Taiwan produces very little soybeans (about 6,000 tons) due to the dominance of rice and other crops, a lack of available farmland and import competitiveness, FAS said. But production has risen from virtually zero in 2012. Taiwan faces a number of obstacles related to soybean imports. FAS noted that in the first half of the current marketing year, logistics issues in the Panama Canal and Red Sea region made it difficult to obtain bulk ...