Brazil October soybean exports could reach 5.1 million mt, up 18% on month: source

Brazilian soybean exports in October could reach 5.1 million mt, up 18% month on month, due to higher demand from China, a trade source said.

According to the Secretariat of Foreign Trade, or Secex, Brazil has exported 3.1 million mt by the end of third week of October and an average daily soy sale of over 200,000 mt, with majority of shipments going to the Asian giant.

During the first nine months of this year, Brazil exported 60.75 million mt of soybeans, down 12% year on year, the Secex data showed. Since January, Brazil has shipped 76% of soybeans it produced to China. Other major export destinations have been Spain, Turkey, Thailand, Iran, and the Netherlands.

Brazil is the world’s largest soybean exporter, while China is the biggest importer, accounting for over 60% of global soy purchases.

With the ongoing US-China trade tensions and uncertainty hanging over US soybean harvest, Brazil has a clear advantage in the Chinese soy market, sources said. However, rising soybean prices, higher domestic crushing demand and depleting inventories may limit the Brazilian export growth in the last quarter of 2019.

According to S&P Global Platts price assessments, the weekly average loading price for SOYBEX FOB Santos in October was seen at $376.04/mt, up 4% month on month, while the weekly average SOYBEX FOB Paranagua was at $374.02/mt, up 3.5% month on month.
Source: Platts