Brazil set to export larger-than-usual soybean volumes to the US

Brazil is set to export at least 200,000 mt of soybeans to the US between the last weeks of May and the beginning of June, line-up data analysed by Agricensus showed.

Brazil typically ships some soybean volumes to the US, especially during the northern hemisphere’s summer months, but this bilateral trade is set to be larger than usual this year as the bumper soybean crop in Brazil has been underpinning very competitive prices in the South American country.

Line-up data from shipping company Williams shows two vessels chartered by Perdue have left the northern river port of Itacoatiara on May 21 and 25 carrying about 30,000 mt of soybeans to the US each.

Williams’ data also showed that three other vessels, two chartered by Perdue and one by ADM, were scheduled to set sail in the first week of June from the northern ports of Santarem and Barcarena with a joint cargo of about 120,000 mt of soybeans destined to the US.

Shipping company Cargonave has reported these same five soybean vessels bound to the US in its line-up data and spotted a sixth vessel chartered by Viterra that left Barcarena on May 23 carrying just under 30,000 mt of beans to the US.

If all these cargoes and volumes are confirmed, this will bring total Brazilian soybean exports to the US between the last weeks of May and the beginning of June to over 200,000 mt, which comes on top of the 46,153 mt shipped to the US between January and April, according to Brazil’s customs data.

This already places this year’s soybean trade between the two countries as the largest since 2014 when Brazil exported the largest yearly soybean volume to the US on record at just over one million mt.