Sílvio Ávila
Nearlyhalfof theBraziliansoybeancropis
consumedinBrazil,andtransformationgenerates
jobs, income, feed, fuelsandlotsmore
Soybean has been inserted into the
national and global markets as a ma-
jor agricultural crop, from an econom-
ic point of view. In Brazil, it is the lead-
ing agribusiness player and its complex
ranks as number one exporter in vol-
ume. Although shipping abroad 55% of
its available volumes, the Country deals
with a “world” of domestic demand
which, according to the National Food
Supply Agency (Conab), should amount
to 44% or 45% of the entire crop in 2016.
Considering the survey published in
September by the Conab, the internal
market shall absorb 42.5 million tons, of
which, 40.5 million for crushing and gen-
eration of oil and meal, two major by-
products extracted from the kernel. About
2 million tons will be destined for oth-
er uses, formation of stocks and seeds,
while 54.1 million tons should be shipped
abroad. Animal feed, edible oil and fuel
are the main purposes of the kernels that
are kept in Brazil. Soybean oil exports are
on a rising trend, and the same holds true
for meal exports to the European Union.
For years, the supply chain has been
channeling political efforts towards chang-
ing the profile of Brazilian exports, favoring
internal kernel processing, whilst selling oil
andmeal, andother by products that come
from this raw material. “Exports of indus-
trialized soybean, with the resulting gen-
eration of income, jobs, wealth and val-
ue added products, is an old target of the
supply chain, but this is something that
goes through complex market and taxa-
tion questions”, summarizes Daniel Furlan
Amaral, manager of the Economics Depart-
ment at the Brazilian Vegetable Oil Indus-
tries Association (Abiove).
The Brazilian delegation that visit-
ed China in September 2016, led by the
minister of of Agriculture, Livestock and
Food Supply (Mapa), Blairo Maggi, start-
ed negotiations towards this end. Car-
los Cogo, director at Carlos Cogo Con-
sultancy, says that a complex taxation
system makes it more advantageous for
China, the leading importer of Brazilian
soybean, to purchase soybean from Bra-
zil and process it in its territory, generat-
ing income and jobs in an economy that
needs to expand greatly. “Argentina has
a different situation, thanks to the tax re-
integration system, greatly favoring its
meal exports”, he says.
Voracious
markets
Rich food
As the kernel is rich inproteins, soybean is grown for adouble purpose, humanandan-
imal food. As the crop is abundantly available, Brazil’s poultry, pigs, milk and even bovine
meat supply chains are very competitive. “Soybean is one of the foundations of themeat,
feed, eggs and dairy products supply chains in Brazil”, explains Ariovaldo Zani, CEO at the
National Union of the Animal Feed Industry (Sindirações). These chains add value to their
products, for the simple reason that soybean can only be used after undergoing an indus-
trialization process.
Soybean oil is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and can be used at home as cooking
oil andmargarines, among other uses, and at the industries, fountain pen ink, paint, bio-
diesel, paints in general, shampoos, soaps and detergents. At the food industry, in the im-
portant ingredients for the production of cereals, bread, biscuits, pasta, fine meat based
products, among others, according to a study published by the Mato Grosso State Applied
Economics Institute (Imea), soybean texturized protein is used as ameat substitute.
Soybean isolates (at least 90%protein) are functional ingredients used in finemilk and
meat products. The technical uses of the protein ingredients of soybean meal include pa-
per coating and enhancers of fermentation processes. The skin of the kernel is removed
during the hulling process and contains fibrous substances. It is used as rough coating and
also as a source of dietetic fiber of morning cereals and ready to eat snacks.
Braziliandream is to exportmore
meal and oil, andnot somany kernels
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