Nebraska soybean producers target Bulgarian crushers

The US state of Nebraska has signed letters of intent with nine soybean crushers in Bulgaria to promote the use of the state’s soybean products, according to a statement by the state governor’s office.

Nebraska, which is the fourth largest state in terms of soybean production, will harvest 9 million mt a year of soybeans this year, according to USDA estimates, with the majority of that being exported.

The agreement will effectively promote Nebraska’s beans to the Bulgarian crushers, which have a capacity of 2.7 million mt, but use less than 80% of that capacity.

“This is a great opportunity, which is growing demand for Nebraska soybeans,” said Gov. Pete Ricketts.

“Bulgaria is a country with a high demand for quality protein and is a relatively untapped market.”

The agreement was signed on a state-sponsored visit to Nebraska, where representatives from the crushers visited a container loading facility in Iowa and took a tour of Archer Daniel Midland’s processing facility in Lincoln.

The news comes as global soybean production is expected to hit 348 million mt in 2017/18, down just 3 million mt on a year earlier, which was a record year.

A bumper Brazil crop last year helped bolster global production, which saw Brazil extend its selling season to rival the US as exporters to China in the last quarter of the year.