August 5, 2013
Soy remains top US export to China
China''s soy import from the US reached US$13 billion in 2012, making it the largest single commodity the US exported to China in terms of value.
"China is the US'' number one soy buyer," US Soy Export Council''s Chinadirector Zhang Xiaoping said. "The soy has played an important role in China-US agricultural trade relations, accounting for more than 50% of total US agricultural exports to China."
Without the Chinese market, both soy production in the US and its related industries would not have grown to its current scale of more than 31 million hectares of land whichproduces 90 million tonnes of soy, he added.
"Since 2003, China has been a dominant US soy importer, with a 36% share of total US soy exports that year. In 2012, China''s share was up to 60%," he said.
Current USDA forecasts predict that China will import 69 million tonnes of soy in 2013-14, up 17% from the 2012-13 level of 59 million tonnes.
The US is the largest producer of soy in the world and Chinaacquires about 25% of its crop. Iowa led the nation in soy production in 2012. The American state ofIowa produced 414 million bushels of soy last year, according to Dustin Vande Hoef, communications director for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. "Around 100 million bushels of Iowa soy were exported to China," he said.
The Iowa-China connection has come a long way since President Xi Jinping - then a party official of Hebei province - travelled there on an exchange programme in 1985.
Vande Hoef expects Iowa''s long history of mutually beneficial trade with China to continue with a comparable volume of soy exports to China again this year. Iowa has been extremely active in promoting the US''trading relationship with China, he said.
"Iowa Governor, Terry Branstad, has participated in several trade missions to China and those trips have included efforts to promote Iowa soy with Chinese customers," he said. "Iowa''s Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey, and the Iowa Soy Association also take regular trips to China to meet with customers."
A group of 27 Minnesota soy farmers went to China in March as part of the Minnesota Soy Research and Promotion Council''s International Marketing "See For Yourself" programme.
"The trip gave Minnesota farmers an in-person view of China, where they met with leaders of some of the businesses that use or process US soy, and developed relationships as well as a greater understanding of the connection between soy producers and their buyers in China," said Dan Lemke, communication director at Minnesota Soy Research & Promotion Council.
Minnesota is the third largest soy producing state in the US, raising more than 300 million bushels in 2012. The soy is Minnesota''s top export commodity and about 25% of its crop also goes to China, according to the council.
Su Ye, head of market research at Minnesota''s Department of Agriculture, said trips like this are wonderful opportunities for Minnesota farmers to better understand the Chinese market. "It really helps our soy growers to see how China and the US both benefit from soy import and export," Su said.