“According to the report of International Grain Council dated January 27, 2017, entire soybean production in the world exceeded 316 million tons. According to the data of IGC, soybean production which was 284 million tons in 2013/14 season reached 320 million tons in 2014/15 season. Estimating that production decreased to 316 million tons in 2015/16 season, IGC forecasted that production amount will increase to 334 million tons in 2016/17 season.”
Being a species of legume, soybean is native to Far East countries like China, Korea and Japan. It was introduced to the other parts of the world and gained value in 20th century. In general, the plant can grow in different climate regions and is successfully cultivated in many regions of the world. However it grows best between May and September and at 25°C. Temperatures below 18 °C and above 40°C may influence growing of soybean negatively. It is also known that soybean enriches the soil with nitrogen and enable fertilizer saving by increasing the efficiency of the seeds that will be cultivated later. That’s why soybean is considered as one of the most suitable seeds for crop rotation.
Being one of the few important crops feeding the world, soybean is also used in feed industry. After extraction of oil, remaining soybean flour-meal is largely used in food industry as it is nutritious and rich in protein. Soybean meal is also a significant source as animal feed. Soybean which it is especially preferred in poultry feed rations can also be used as green manure.
WORLD SOYBEAN PRODUCTION AND PRODUCER COUNTRIES
Cultivated Eastern China between 11th and 17th centuries, soybean plant was introduced to Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Nepal and India in time. Between 1919 and 1924, soybean was cultivated in 8 states in USA and this increased to 26 states later. Today, USA is the top soybean producer in the world.
According to the report of International Grain Council dated January 27, 2017, entire soybean production in the world exceeded 316 million tons. According to the data of IGC, soybean production which was 284 million tons in 2013/14 season reached 320 million tons in 2014/15 season. Estimating that production decreased to 316 million tons in 2015/16 season, IGC forecasted that production amount will increase to 334 million tons in 2016/17 season.
Data of Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) of USA which is the global leading soybean producer is parallel with IGC but a bit different. According to the data of USDA, world soybean production which was 268,474 million tons in 2012/13 season reached to 282,510 million tons in 2013/14 season and 319,780 million tons in 2014/15 season. Estimating that production reached 313,533 million tons in 2015/16 season, USDA forecasted that production will increase and reach 337,852 million tons in 2016/17 season.
As it is mentioned before, world’s largest soybean producer is USA. According to the data of USDA, 106,857 million tons, a significant part of world soybean production which was 313,533 million tons in 2015/16 season was realized by USA. Following USA, second largest producer is Brazil. In the same season, Brazil realized soybean production of 96,5 million tons. According to the data of 2015/16 season, Argentina with 56,8 million tons , China with 11,785 million tons, India with 7,125 million tons, Paraguay with 9 million tons and Canada with 6,371 million tons follow USA and Brazil.
WORLD SOYBEAN CONSUMPTION AND CONSUMER COUNTRIES
According to the data of IGC, world soybean consumption which was 282 million tons in 2013/14 season reached to 312 million tons in 2014/15 season and 319 million tons in 2015/16 season. IGC forecasts that consumption amount will continue to increase in 2016/17 season and reach to 333 million tons.
According to the data of USDA, 276,755 million tons of world soybean production which was 313,533 million tons in 2015/16 season is used by grinding. According to the data of 2015/16 season, China is the number one in grinded soybean consumption with 81,3 million tons. USA with 51,335 million tons, Argentina with 43,230 million tons, Brazil with 39,901 million tons, EU with 15,1 million tons, India with 5,8 million tons, Mexico with 4,4 million tons follow China.
SOYBEAN OIL AND MEAL PRODUCTION
One of the most significant usage areas of soybean is as oil. According to the data of USDA, world soybean oil production is over 50 million tons. Soybean oil production which was 43,570 million tons in 2012/13 season reached 45,243 million tons in 2013/14, 49,310 million tons in 2014/15 season, 51,876 million tons in 2015/16 season. Production is expected to reach 54,202 million tons in 2016/17 season. China became the number one in soybean oil production with 14,569 million tons in 2015/16 season. USA with 9,9 million ton, Argentina with 8,4 million tons, Brazil with 7,6 million tons follow China.
Other parts of soybean which are used in food and feed products are around 200 million tons. According to the data of USDA, soybean meal production which was 181,831 million tons in 2012/13 season reached to 190,294 million tons in 2013/14 season, 208,333 million tons in 2014/15 season, 217 million tons in 2015/16 season. This production amount is expected to reach to 227,796 million tons in 2016/17 season. As it is in soybean oil production, China, USA, Brazil and Argentina are the top soybean meal producers. According to the data of USDA, China produced 64,390 million tons soybean meal, USA 40,526 million tons, Argentina 33, 165 million tons, Brazil 30,880 million tons and in 2015/16 season.
Consumption of soybean oil and meal is intense in the countries which are on the top in production. 15,250 million tons of world soybean oil which was 51,955 million tons in 2015/16 season consume China, 9,148 million tons USA, 6,265 million tons Brazil, 5,4 million tons India. According to the data of the same season, 62,5 million tons of world soybean meal consumption which was 214,482 million tons belong to China, 31,1 million tons to EU countries, 30 million tons to USA, 16,2 million tons to Brazil.
WORLD SOYBEAN TRADE
According to the data of International Grain Council IGC, amount of soybean which is traded around the world exceeded 130 million tons. According to this, world soybean trade which was 113 million tons in 2013/14 season reached 127 million tons in 2014/15 season, 134 million tons in 2015/16 season. IGC forecasted that soybean trade will increase to 137 million tons in 2016/17 season.
According to the data of USDA, 77 million tons of world soybean import which was around 133,314 million tons in 2015/16 season belongs to China. In world soybean import, EU with 15 million tons, Mexico with 4,1 million tons and Japan with 3,1 million tons follow China. In exports, Brazil and USA come first. Export amount of Brazil in 2015/16 season was 54,3 million tons, and it was 52,6 million tons for USA. Argentina with 9,9 million tons, Paraguay with 5,3 million tons, Canada with 4,2 million tons follow in exportation.
Around 11,7 million tons of soybean oil is traded around the world. According to the data of USDA, soybean oil trade which was around 11 million tons in 2014/15 season reached 11,7 million tons in 2015/16 season, 11,5 million tons in 2016/17 season. According to the data of USDA, India is the top in world soybean import with 674 thousand tons in 2015/16 season. China with 586 thousand tons, Colombia with 372 thousand tons, Caribbean with 306 thousand tons, Iran with 299 thousand tons, and South Korea with 250 thousand tons follow India. Argentina comes first with 5,6 million tons in exportation. Brazil with 1,5 million tons, USA with 1 million tons, Paraguay with 700 thousand tons follows Argentina.
Soybean meal trade is around 60 million tons in the world. According to the data of USDA, soybean meal import which was 64,463 million tons in 2014/15 season reached to 65,995 million tons in 2015/16 season. It is estimated to be 68,315 million tons in 2016/17 season.
EU comes first in soybean meal import with 19,2 million tons in 2015/16 season. Vietnam with 4,7 million tons, Indonesia with 4,2 million tons, Philippines with 2,7 million tons, Thailand with 2,4 million tons, Mexica with 2,3 million tons follow EU countries. Argentina comes first with 30,3 million tons in exports. Argentina realizes nearly 50 percent of world soybean meal export with this export amount. Brazil with 15,4 million tons, USA with 10,8 million tons follow Argentina in exports.