Exportsofsoybeankernelsarestill
inhibitingvalue-addingefforts
Soybeanprocessingindustrycrushed40.566million
tons in2015,but itscapacity is fornearly60milliontons
Extra
breath
Brazilboaststhecapacitytoprocessnear-
ly60million tons of soybeana year. Thiswas
the capacity in 2014, according to sourc-
es from the Brazilian Vegetable Oil Indus-
tries Association (Abiove). The processing of
40.556milliontonswastheamountreached
in 2015 and outstripped all results achieved
in the previous years. With regard to the vol-
ume industrialized in 2014, it represented
an increase of 7.8%, or 2.934 million tons,
fromfigures released by the Abiove.
The entity mentions that the volume in-
dustrialized in the Country represents only
41%of the Brazilian soybean crop. This share
attests to the existing potential for expanding
the production of soybeanmeal. The produc-
tionof96.9milliontonsofsoybeanandtheex-
portation of 54.3 million tons also hit record
numbers in 2015. The historical results had a
repeat in production, consumption and ex-
ports of meal and in the domestic scenario of
oil supply and demand. The availability of the
products could go up even further with the
processing of the soybean kernels that are ex-
ported,saysourcesfromtheAbiove.
The production of soybean meal amount-
ed to 30.765 million tons in 2015, with 16.017
million tons destined for domestic consump-
tionand14.796milliontonsfortheforeignmar-
ket. Thesevolumeswereup2.013million tons,
1.218 million tons and 979 thousand tons, re-
spectively, from the previous year. Bigger de-
mand for the production of animal feed and
declining supply in Argentina, leading global
producer,hadasayinthehigherresultsin2015.
The domestic market demanded 6.521
million tons of soybean oil in 2015, and total
productionremainedat8.074milliontons,ac-
cording to Abiove sources. Exports amount-
ed to 1.665 million tons. The production vol-
umes, domestic and foreign consumption of
the oil were up 631 thousand tons, 412 thou-
sand tons and 370 thousand tons, respective-
ly, from the year before. The bigger share of
biodiesel in fossil diesel favored the domestic
demandforthevegetableoil.
Theexportsofthesoybeancomplexwere
positive in 2015, with higher volumes, but
revenue in dollar was smaller. Shipments to-
taled 54.324 million tons of soybean kernels,
14.827 million tons of meal and 1.67 million
tons of oil, up 19%, 8%and 28%, respective-
ly, from the shipments in 2014. The figures
comefromtheAbiove,basedonthenumbers
released by the Secretariat of Foreign Trade
(Secex)oftheMinistryofDevelopment, Indus-
try and Foreign Trade (MDIC).
Hefty contribution
Invalues, shipmentsbrought inUS$27.96billion in2015, not asmuchas theUS$31.4bil-
lion in the previous year. The blame goes to the lower average price per ton of the soybean
complex, as it was responsible for the smaller export FOB value. The decrease reached 24%
inkernelexports,23%inmealexportsand20%insoybeanoilexports.Ofthetotal,US$20.98
billion (75.1%) referred to soybean kernel exports, US$ 5.82 billion (20.8%) tomeal and US$
1.2 billion (4.1%) to soybean oil sales. The sumof the three products represented a share of
14.6%of all national exports registered in 2015.
Nonetheless, according to Abiove sources, the Country is losing its representation in ex-
ports of soybeanmeal and oil, as a result of the absence of value-adding policies. Exports of
soybean kernels increased its share in revenue from13% in 1981 to 75% in 2015, while ship-
ments ofmeal andoil dropped from87%to25%, during the sameperiod. Opposite result in
Argentina, a country that ranked as biggest soybean oil andmeal exporter.
AccordingtoAbioveofficials,theindustryofthesoybeancomplexislosinggroundtoChinese
competitors. The government in China lends support to value adding initiatives and to the gen-
eration of jobs through suchmeasures as the 4-percent import tariff intended to protect the lo-
calindustry,publicinvestmentintheindustryandsupplyofrawmaterial.Chinaequallyprotects
itsownvalue-addedmarketwithtechnicalandphytosanitarybarriers.Inthecountry,shipments
abroad of soybean kernels are exempt fromsocial security contributions, while the byproducts
aretaxedbypercentagesoftheseproductsgeneratedduringtheproductionprocessforexports.
Brazil is the fourth largest soybean processor in the world, coming only after China, the
United States and Argentina. In August 2015, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), had
estimated that China would process 81.8 million tons in the 2015/16 growing season. Global
crushing for theperiodwas estimatedat 278.65million tons.
62
* Estimativa – ** Previsão.
Fonte:
Abiove – 29/09/2016.
PARCELAS
Shares
Os números da industrialização
da soja no Brasil
2014
Produção
86,397 milhões de t.
Processamento 37,622 milhões de t.
Exportação
45,692 milhões de t.
2015
Produção
96,994 milhões de t.
Processamento 40,556 milhões de t.
Exportação
54,324 milhões de t.
2016*
Produção
94,600 milhões de t.
Processamento 40,300 milhões de t.
Exportação
52,500 milhões de t.
2017**
Produção
101,300 milhões de t.
Processamento 41,000 milhões de t.
Exportação
57,000 milhões de t.
