U.S. tops Brazil in soybean sales to European Union

The United States has surpassed Brazil to become the top seller of soybeans to the European Union, partly because Brazil had a bad crop year, and partly because in July the EU promised to buy more U.S. soy to fend off threatened tariffs on European car imports. 

"In the 12 weeks to mid-September, U.S. soybeans accounted for 52 percent of imports to the EU, rising 133 percent compared with the same period last year to 1.47 million tonnes. The United States had just 25 percent of the market in the same period of 2017," Andreas Rinke reports for Reuters. "Imports from Brazil dropped to a 40 percent share of the bloc’s roughly 35-million-tonne annual import market for the animal feed staple."

Prices for U.S. soybeans dropped after China mostly stopped buying them in June, making them an attractive option for European markets. "U.S. and EU negotiators have begun discussions on how to free up some trade in what Washington wants to be a bigger deal that would cut the U.S. deficit in merchandise trade," Rinke reports.