USDA experts raised the forecast for global imports of meals and cakes to a record 103.9 million tons

The USDA has increased its global imports of meals and cakes forecast for 2024/25 MY for the fourth consecutive month, with an expected total of 103.99 million tons. This includes 73.01 million tons of soybean meal, 10.35 million tons of rapeseed meal, and 8.6 million tons of sunflower meal. China, the world's largest producer of soybean meal, has recently shifted towards importing alternative feed components and has started purchasing sunflower meal from Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine has seen a 12% increase in soybean meal exports volume from September to December 2024/25 MY, reaching 278 thousand tons, due to increased demand from the EU. However, the soybean processing margin in Ukraine is decreasing due to falling prices for soybean meal.

In the February forecast, USDA experts increased the forecast for global imports of meals and cakes in 2024/25 MY for the fourth month in a row. It is expected that global imports of meals will amount to 103.99 million tons, including soybean meal - 73.01 million tons, rapeseed meal - 10.35 million tons, sunflower meal - 8.6 million tons. In recent years, China has been the world's largest producer of soybean meal, which it received mainly from imported soybeans. In the period 2013/14 MY - 2017/18 MY, the share of meal obtained from imported raw materials averaged 93%. However, it has recently decreased as a result of increased imports of alternative feed components, primarily sunflower and rapeseed meal. According to USDA estimates, in 2018/19 MY China began actively purchasing sunflower meal, mainly from Ukraine, and from 2022 Russia has joined the list of main suppliers. In December, Ukraine exported 96 thousand tons of soybean meal, which is the highest monthly figure since ...