Insights from Soy Connext 2026
One dominant theme that emerged from USSEC’s Soy Connext 2026 global conference focused on significant change and the industry’s response to it.
Both subtle and powerful changes across the global landscape are influencing the world’s soy supply chain. However, every link in that chain is adapting to ensure that soybeans, soybean meal and other soy products reach those who rely on these inputs.
Several industry experts shared their insights on forces influencing world trade, current soy market dynamics and corresponding adjustments during the event, held in early August in Chicago.
Notable Global Shifts
Many geopolitical factors influence trade, investment and agriculture. Soy Connext speaker Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, CNBC contributor, focused on two linked closely to global soy trade.
First, she discussed a shift in the U.S. approach to trade with China. Rather than encouraging adjustments in China’s economic approach, the U.S. is focused on managed trade, seeking a mutually beneficial balance in trade between these two large economies. Soybeans remain key to U.S. exports, along with other agricultural commodities. She also noted that how other markets around the world choose to approach trade with China will influence how global trade balances.
The second shift, Caruso-Cabrera explained, was the swing of the political pendulum across Latin America. In the past couple years, several new leaders in that region have focused on improving their countries’ economies and curbing crime, forming a new era of cooperation in the western hemisphere. As economies in Central and South America grow, so will their demand. At the same time, potential soybean and other agricultural commodity production could also grow.
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