Egypt: US Soybean Meal Shows Better Uniformity and Less Fiber
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Egypt’s Soybean production in marketing year (MY) 2022/23 (October–September) is forecast at 34,000 metric tons. The post attributes the rise to an increase in the total area harvested by 3,000 hectares. MY 2021/22 area harvested and production remain unchanged from the USDA official estimate of 9,000 hectares (HA) and 25,000 metric tons (MT).
The increase in area harvested in MY 2022/23 is attributed to contract farming between Egypt’s Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR) and growers and increased distribution of certified Soybean seeds. The Soybean growing season runs from May to August and is mainly planted in middle and Upper Egypt. Soybean domestic production is primarily used in the production of full-fat Soybeans, which are used in feed rations for lactating cows and broiler chickens at 2-3 percent.
FAS Cairo forecasts Egypt’s Soybean consumption in MY 2022/223 at roughly 4.05 million metric tons (MMT), up 6.6 percent from the post’s earlier MY 2021/22 estimate of 3.79 million metric tons, which remains unchanged from the USDA official projection. Egypt’s domestic crush capacity in MY 2022/23 will reach about 12,121 MT/day, up from 11,363 MT/day in marketing year 2021/22. The increase in domestic crush capacity is attributable to establishing of new crushing facilities. Soybean crush operations in Egypt are dominated by companies with over 80 percent of the total volume: SOYVEN and the Alex Seeds Company.
Except for these two companies, most crush facilities usually operate at about 50 percent of their capacity. Egypt’s domestic consumption of Soybeans for food use in MY 2022/23 will remain at roughly 17,000 metric tons, similar to the post’s earlier MY 2021/22 estimate of 17,000 metric tons, which remains unchanged from the USDA official projection.
Soybean Imports in Egypt
FAS Cairo forecasts Egypt’s Soybean imports in MY 2022/23 at 4.0 MMT, up 400,000 MT from Post’s MY 2021/22 estimate of 3.6 million metric tons. The post attributes the increase in imports to expanded local crush capacity. Post’s MY2021/22 import estimate remains unchanged from the USDA official estimate of 3.6 MMT. Egypt imported some 17.31 MMT of Soybeans between MY 2016/17 and MY 2020/21. Throughout that period, Egypt’s leading suppliers have been the United States (12.5 MMT), Argentina (2.05 MMT), Ukraine (1.67 MMT), Uruguay (437,000 MT), Brazil (360,000 MT), and Paraguay (195,000 metric tons).
According to AgFlow data, Egypt imported 67,343 tons of Soybean from the United States in May 2023, followed by Ukraine (30,934 tons) and Brazil (30,626 tons). Total imports reached 0.6 million tons in Jan-May of this year. Marketing year (MY) 2019/20 was a record year for U.S.-origin Soybean exports to Egypt. Out of 4.75 MMT in total Soybean imports, some 3.83 MMT were U.S.-origin Soybeans, or 80.6 percent of total Soybeans exported to the Egyptian market. Other Soybean export origins in MY 2019/20 include Argentina (402,000 MT), Ukraine (354,000 MT), and Uruguay (160,000 metric tons).
In MY 2020/21, U.S.-origin Soybean exports to Egypt amounted to 2.53 MMT, representing 70.2 percent of total Soybeans exported to the Egyptian market. Other Soybean export origins in MY 2020/21 include Argentina (595,000 MT), Uruguay (173,000 MT), Brazil (112,000 MT), Ukraine (86,000 MT), Canada (83,000 MT), and Paraguay (28,000 metric tons).
Between October 2021and through January 2022, Egypt already imported some 1.81 MMT of Soybeans, with 90 percent of the volume coming from the United States. In October 2020 and through January 2021, Egypt imported some 1.54 MMT of Soybeans, with 89.6 percent of the volume coming from the United States.
Egyptian traders and crushers demand sustainability and supply quality, both critical features of U.S.-origin Soybean. Industry sources report that meals produced from U.S.-origin Soybeans show better uniformity, less fiber, and higher protein content than that of other origins. U.S.-origin Soybeans also have higher oil content with superior quality.
Other sources: USDA
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