Overall, the value of soya beans exports rose by an average 7.2% for all exporting countries since 2015 when soya beans shipments were valued at $51.2 billion. Year over year, the value of globally exported soya beans declined by -7.6% from 2018 to 2019.
From a continental perspective, Latin America (58.7% of the global total) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean sold the highest dollar worth of exported soya beans during 2019 with shipments valued at $32.2 billion. In second place were North American exporters at 37%.
Smaller percentages for international sales of soya beans came from Europe (3.7%), Asia (0.4%), Africa (0.2%) and Oceania (0.002%) mostly Australia.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for soya beans is 1201.
Soya Beans Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of soya beans during 2019.
- Brazil: US$26.1 billion (47.6% of total exported soya beans)
- United States: $18.7 billion (34.1%)
- Argentina: $3.5 billion (6.3%)
- Paraguay: $1.6 billion (2.9%)
- Canada: $1.5 billion (2.8%)
- Uruguay: $1 billion (1.8%)
- Ukraine: $748.2 million (1.4%)
- Netherlands: $383.8 million (0.7%)
- Russia: $278.2 million (0.5%)
- Romania: $111.1 million (0.2%)
- China: $92.3 million (0.2%)
- Belgium: $90.4 million (0.2%)
- Croatia: $82.3 million (0.2%)
- Serbia: $71.9 million (0.1%)
- India: $70.4 million (0.1%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 99.1% of global soya beans exported in 2019 by value.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing soya beans exporters since 2015 were: Romania (up 147.3%), Russia (up 134%), Serbia (up 28.7%) and Belgium (up 26.8%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported soya beans sales were led by: India (down -51.3%), China (down -26.5%), Uruguay (down -21.2%), Netherlands (down -20.1%) and Argentina (down -18.7%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for soya beans during 2019. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s exported soya beans and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Brazil: US$26.1 billion (net export surplus up 24.9% since 2015)
- United States: $18.4 billion (up 0.2%)
- Argentina: $1.9 billion (down -56.3%)
- Paraguay: $1.6 billion (down -1.3%)
- Canada: $1.3 billion (down -21.3%)
- Uruguay: $1 billion (down -21.1%)
- Ukraine: $746 million (down -6.8%)
- Romania: $75.4 million (reversing a -$28.2 million deficit)
- Croatia: $75.1 million (up 14.9%)
- Serbia: $71.5 million (up 303.4%)
- Ethiopia: $55 million (up 274.8%)
- Togo: $42.9 million (up 6040.3%)
- Slovakia: $17.4 million (down -1.1%)
- Moldova: $12.3 million (down -41.4%)
- Cambodia: $7.5 million (reversing a -$27,000 deficit)
Overtaking United States three years ago in 2016, Brazil generated the highest surplus in the international trade of soya beans. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Brazil’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for soya beans during 2019. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s imported soya beans purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- China: -US$35.3 billion (net export deficit up 1.6% since 2015)
- Japan: -$1.5 billion (down -9.9%)
- Germany: -$1.4 billion (down -10%)
- Thailand: -$1.27 billion (up 14%)
- Egypt: -$1.26 billion (up 69.4%)
- Spain: -$1.22 billion (down -15.5%)
- Netherlands: -$1.18 billion (down -9.2%)
- Taiwan: -$1 billion (down -12%)
- Turkey: -$981.9 million (up 2.2%)
- Indonesia: -$935.1 million (down -9.5%)
- Mexico: -$912.8 million (down -42%)
- Iran: -$782 million (up 7.5%)
- Italy: -$775.9 million (up 87%)
- Bangladesh: -$753.3 million (up 57.7%)
- Pakistan: -$649.4 million (up 161.9%)
The People’s Republic of China continues to the highest deficit in the international trade of soya beans. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights strong Chinese competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for soya beans-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Companies
Soya-based Products Export Companies
Below are global vegetarian and vegan firms that are players engaged in the international trade of soya-based goods. The home country for each company is shown within parenthesis.
- Alpro (Belgium)
- Earth’s Own Food Company (Canada)
- Eden Foods Inc (United States)
- Sahmyook Foods (South Korea)
- Somenoya (Japan)
Searchable List of Soya Beans Exporting Countries in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. The right-most column showcases the percentage increase in the value of exported soya beans from 2018 to 2019. A value of 0% in that column means no 2018 data was available.
| Rank | Exporter | Exported Soya Beans (US$) | 2018-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Brazil | $26,117,540,000 | -21.3% |
| 2. | United States | $18,724,339,000 | +9.1% |
| 3. | Argentina | $3,471,760,000 | +138.7% |
| 4. | Paraguay | $1,576,120,000 | -28.5% |
| 5. | Canada | $1,547,811,000 | -30.3% |
| 6. | Uruguay | $1,006,662,000 | +88.3% |
| 7. | Ukraine | $748,153,000 | -10% |
| 8. | Netherlands | $383,799,000 | -11.3% |
| 9. | Russia | $278,193,000 | -5.0% |
| 10. | Romania | $111,101,000 | +85.8% |
| 11. | China | $92,274,000 | -7.7% |
| 12. | Belgium | $90,449,000 | -28.6% |
| 13. | Croatia | $82,328,000 | +40% |
| 14. | Serbia | $71,876,000 | +127.8% |
| 15. | India | $70,360,000 | -42.8% |
| 16. | France | $69,621,000 | -7.9% |
| 17. | Ethiopia | $55,020,000 | +35.1% |
| 18. | Austria | $52,709,000 | +5% |
| 19. | Togo | $43,203,000 | +105.7% |
| 20. | Germany | $31,681,000 | -55% |
| 21. | Hungary | $30,128,000 | +60.8% |
| 22. | Slovakia | $24,712,000 | -5.1% |
| 23. | Italy | $16,508,000 | -24.9% |
| 24. | Kazakhstan | $15,421,000 | +2.4% |
| 25. | Poland | $13,390,000 | +265.9% |
| 26. | Moldova | $12,343,000 | +135.4% |
| 27. | Chile | $9,816,000 | -16.9% |
| 28. | Cambodia | $8,936,000 | 0% |
| 29. | United Kingdom | $7,929,000 | +4.4% |
| 30. | Malawi | $6,883,000 | -69.3% |
| 31. | Malaysia | $6,333,000 | +8.4% |
| 32. | Turkey | $6,144,000 | -49.1% |
| 33. | Slovenia | $5,109,000 | -36.7% |
| 34. | Bolivia | $4,625,000 | +38.7% |
| 35. | Spain | $4,554,000 | -15.1% |
| 36. | Zambia | $4,392,000 | +18.7% |
| 37. | Burkina Faso | $4,193,000 | +137% |
| 38. | Djibouti | $4,083,000 | -4.8% |
| 39. | Ghana | $3,642,000 | +41.2% |
| 40. | South Africa | $3,361,000 | -77.4% |
| 41. | Portugal | $2,789,000 | +156.1% |
| 42. | Benin | $2,294,000 | -53.7% |
| 43. | Mozambique | $1,964,000 | +374.4% |
| 44. | Thailand | $1,909,000 | -4.1% |
| 45. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $1,817,000 | +5,406% |
| 46. | Lithuania | $1,729,000 | -11.2% |
| 47. | Belarus | $1,606,000 | -87% |
| 48. | United Arab Emirates | $1,572,000 | +566.1% |
| 49. | Mexico | $1,480,000 | +900% |
| 50. | Myanmar (Burma) | $1,465,000 | +120.3% |
| 51. | Denmark | $1,275,000 | +47.1% |
| 52. | Australia | $1,157,000 | -50.5% |
| 53. | Indonesia | $1,121,000 | +140% |
| 54. | Czech Republic | $1,109,000 | -68.1% |
| 55. | Bulgaria | $996,000 | +71.7% |
| 56. | Greece | $868,000 | -8.7% |
| 57. | Ireland | $832,000 | +76.3% |
| 58. | Uganda | $717,000 | -92.2% |
| 59. | Hong Kong | $592,000 | -81.8% |
| 60. | Estonia | $535,000 | -13.1% |
| 61. | Japan | $458,000 | +142.3% |
| 62. | Latvia | $280,000 | -67.3% |
| 63. | Sweden | $253,000 | +73.3% |
| 64. | Taiwan | $253,000 | +0.4% |
| 65. | Zimbabwe | $246,000 | -2% |
| 66. | Singapore | $223,000 | +14.9% |
| 67. | South Korea | $162,000 | +5.2% |
| 68. | Switzerland | $147,000 | -58.7% |
| 69. | Colombia | $117,000 | +457.1% |
| 70. | Brunei Darussalam | $103,000 | +836.4% |
| 71. | Philippines | $99,000 | 0% |
| 72. | Vietnam | $84,000 | -87.2% |
| 73. | Israel | $77,000 | 0% |
| 74. | Bangladesh | $75,000 | +1,400% |
| 75. | Tanzania | $70,000 | -97.5% |
| 76. | Laos | $64,000 | -95.4% |
| 77. | Iran | $48,000 | +92% |
| 78. | Nigeria | $46,000 | -99.7% |
| 79. | Sudan | $41,000 | 0% |
| 80. | Guatemala | $40,000 | +122.2% |
| 81. | Georgia | $33,000 | 0% |
| 82. | Norway | $30,000 | 0% |
| 83. | Cameroon | $23,000 | +43.8% |
| 84. | Nepal | $21,000 | +5% |
| 85. | Egypt | $20,000 | -91.3% |
| 86. | Kenya | $20,000 | -95.3% |
| 87. | Ecuador | $18,000 | +157.1% |
| 88. | Luxembourg | $17,000 | -15% |
| 89. | Sri Lanka | $14,000 | -6.7% |
| 90. | Norfolk Island | $13,000 | 0% |
| 91. | Peru | $12,000 | +100% |
| 92. | North Macedonia | $6,000 | 0% |
| 93. | Mali | $6,000 | 0% |
| 94. | Nicaragua | $5,000 | -70.6% |
| 95. | New Zealand | $2,000 | 0% |
| 96. | Senegal | $1,000 | 0% |
| 97. | Kyrgyzstan | $1,000 | 0% |
| 98. | Iraq | $1,000 | -80% |
| 99. | Costa Rica | $1,000 | 0% |
| 100. | Dominican Republic | $1,000 | -66.7% |
See also Wine Exports by Country, Rice Exports by Country and Wheat Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 5, 2020
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 5, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 5, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 5, 2020
Wikipedia, List of vegetarian and vegan companies. Accessed on May 5, 2020
