Based on an analysis conducted by the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA), Asian countries, being led by Indonesia are expressing an increased demand on shipping containers to transmit their US soybeans purchases. The soybean marketing year begins on September 1 and ends August 31.
Specifically, the soybeans shipped in containers to Asian countries have increased by 40% the 2014-2015 crop marketing year, from 2 million metric tons to 2.8 million metric tons.
Indonesia is the top buyer of container shipments of soybeans at about 1.4 million metric tons, followed by Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
In the meantime, the container shipments of soybeans concerning the 2018-2019 marketing year, are expected to rise by 18%, to 3.3 million metric tonnes, according to the first-quarter trends.
Moreover, the data was organized for the U.S. Soybean Export Council from weekly reports released by the Federal Grain Inspection Service, which maintains crop standards and ensures markets for grains and related products are fair and transparent.
Yet, the analysis did not include container shipments to China and Taiwan.
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Containerized shipping provides many advantages to global buyers.
Firstly, the containerized shipping meets the needs of smaller customers that might not be able to accommodate bulk cargo vessels, or they even want to buy smaller quantities. Additionally, another advantage is the quality preservation, the ability to buy soybeans with specific product attributes and shorter delivery times to Asian ports than the bulk-shipping channel.
Generally, container shipping opens the door for diverse markets across the globe to purchase U.S. soybeans.
Eric Woodie, a trade analyst with the ISA checkoff program stated
Wider use of containers, thanks to the huge supply of empties in the Chicago area, has resulted in industry investments to increase the visibility and viability of this option. There’s a major opportunity to take advantage of empty containers sitting idly in the U.S. and return them to export markets with soybeans. Not only does this help alleviate a significant problem in global trade, but it offers great value to international buyers, soybean exporters and Illinois farmers.