Taiwan increases U.S. soybean purchases

Sep 28, 2018

The country will buy about US$1.56-billion worth of soybeans over wo years

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

An important U.S. customer has agreed to buy more soybeans over the next two years.

Yesterday, Taiwanese officials signed a letter of intent to import between 3.2 and 3.9 million metric tons of soybeans from Iowa and Minnesota in 2018 and 2019.

Those amounts represent US$1.5- billion worth of soybean exports and nearly four million soybean acres. Taiwan purchased US$581-million worth of soybeans in 2016.

Taiwan is as a willing trading partner, despite the recent global climate.

Since China, America’s largest soybean buyer, announced 25 percent tariffs on U.S. soybeans in April, exports of American soybeans to Taiwan increased by 37 percent compared to last year.

Taiwan has “been looking to cement ties with the U.S. so one way to do it would be to buy more soybeans,” Loren Puette, director of ChinaAg, a market research firm, told Reuters yesterday.

The industry welcomes increased soybean trade given the uncertainty in some global markets and an estimated record crop.

“Our trade relations around the world, including Taiwan, are critical to ensuring that our farmers can sell their products in the global marketplace,” Minn. Gov Mark Dayton said in a statement yesterday. “With the USDA predicting the largest U.S. soybean crop ever, these export opportunities are vitally important.”

The Taiwanese delegation will be in Iowa on Monday to sign that state’s agreement

Farms.com has reached out to the Iowa and Minnesota soybean associations for comment on the increased soybean trade.

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