China takes 78% of Brazil soybean exports in Sept, down on year

More than three-quarters of Brazil’s exports headed to China last month, as the country continued to stockpile soybeans, government data showed Tuesday.

Of 4.47 million mt of soybeans exported, 3.5 million mt headed to China, the world’s biggest importer of soybeans.

The figures are up on August, when China took 75% of the total volume of soybeans exported by Brazil, the world’s biggest exporter, but are down on the 80% market share last year.

So far, Chinese buyers have snapped up 73% of all of Brazil’s soybean exports this year, down from around 75% at this point last year.

Brazil has ramped up exports this year due to an early harvest and some aggressive buying by Chinese entities – a dynamic that, combined with a later harvest next year, means there is a shortage of soybeans for January 2021 shipment.

Brazil is expected to export 93.5 million mt of soybeans in the current 2019/20 marketing year, which for Brazil starts in February 2020 and ends in January 2021.

With year-to-date exports at 83.4 million mt, the world’s biggest grower has already shipped 89% of its target.

That figure compares with 83% of its total exports shipped at this point last year.