Argentina & Brazil

Major Foreign Soybean Exporters and Importers

Since the early 1970s, soybean production in South America has expanded rapidly. Brazil now trails only the United States in soybean production. Brazilian soybean growing regions used to be concentrated in the south, relatively near the major ports. In recent years, soybeans have expanded into the vast farmland of the center-west states, as infrastructure improvements have cut internal transportation costs. Brazil's vast reserves of farmland could permit a continued significant expansion in soybean area, though expansion is currently limited because of insufficient transportation infrastructure. Argentina's soybean growing regions and crushers are located close to port facilities, where the country's highly developed crushing industry and relatively small domestic market makes it the world's largest exporter of soybean meal and oil. A lower export tax on processed commodities than on unprocessed commodities also favors the export of soybean oil and meal from Argentina. Recent increases in production by Argentine and Brazilian grain and oilseed producers could foreshadow continued gains on the strength of abundant undeveloped agricultural resources, more stable economies, and expanding trade liberalization, see:

Agriculture in Brazil and Argentina: Developments and Prospects for Major Field Crops