OILS AND FATS IN THE MARKET PLACE
COMMODITY OILS AND FATS
SOYBEAN OIL
Soybeans are grown predominantly in North and South America where 38% and 42%, respectively, of the 2008/09 world supply of beans was harvested. Further details are given in Table 3 and discussed below. It is only recently (2002/03) that total production in South America has exceeded that from the United States. In 2006/07 world production of soybeans was 237 million tonnes but the figure fell in the two following years to 221 and 211 million tonnes due to declines in first US and then Argentinian production. The products of soybean agriculture are traded as beans and also as extracted oil and these must always be distinguished.
91% of total soybean production was crushed (somewhere) and 35% was traded mainly with China and EU-27. These two countries import 53 and 17%, respectively, of all traded beans. Among the three large American producers the United States crushes some of its beans for oil and meal and exports some as beans. This applies also to Brazil but at lower levels. In contrast, Argentina crushes most of its soybeans and exports oil and meal rather than beans.
Soybean oil is second only to palm oil in level of production and is an important oil used widely, mainly but not entirely, for food purposes. It is an unsaturated oil rich in linoleic (typically 53%) and linolenic acids (typically 8%). Both these polyunsaturated fatty acids have valuable nutritional properties, but linolenic acid in particular contributes to oxidative instability, so soybean oil is generally subject to light hydrogenation to halve the content of this acid thereby enhancing shelf-life. For use in spreads the oil has to be partially hydrogenated to raise its content of solid triacylglycerols. This leads to the formation of saturated acids and unsaturated acids with trans unsaturation. The latter are now recognised as worse than saturated acids in their cholesterol-raising activity. Alternative recipes have been devised that reduce the requirement for partially hydrogenated fat. This is a problem particularly for the US where fat consumed as food comes almost entirely from soybean oil. Another problem with the US soybean-based diet is the high omega-6:omega-3 ratio when a much lower ratio is desirable. In particular there is need for an increased intake of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids from marine sources. The figures in the Tables relating to soybean oil do not recognise those variants in which the fatty acid content has been changed by genetic or conventional seed breeding procedures.
Table 1. Soybeans: production, trade, and crushing (million tonnes) in 2008/09. |
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| Production | Exports | Imports | Crushing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World | 210.6 | 74.3 | 73.4 | 192.8 |
| USA | 80.5 | 34.4 | 45.2 | |
| Brazil | 57.0 | 27.8 | 31.8 | |
| Argentina | 32.0 | 6.0 | 32.8 | |
| China | 16.0 | 39.1 | 41.0 | |
| India | 9.1 | 7.3 | ||
| Paraguay | 3.8 | 2.3 | ||
| Canada | 3.3 | 2.0 | 1.3 | |
| EU-27 | 12.8 | 12.5 | ||
| Japan | 3.4 | 2.5 | ||
| Mexico | 3.1 | 3.2 | ||
| Other | 8.9 | 1.8 | 15.0 | 15.2 |
Missing figures are not available in USDA Tables |
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Table 2. Soybean oil: production, trade, and consumption (million tonnes) in 2008/09. |
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| Production | Exports | Imports | Consumption | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World | 35.88 | 9.38 | 9.16 | 35.89 |
| China | 7.31 | 0.10 | 2.21 | 9.49 |
| USA | 8.60 | 1.00 | 7.35 | |
| Brazil | 6.10 | 1.91 | 4.26 | |
| EU-27 | 2.25 | 0.33 | 0.90 | 2.90 |
| India | 1.34 | 1.00 | 2.33 | |
| Argentina | 6.29 | 5.10 | 1.21 | |
| Mexico | 0.56 | 0.77 | ||
| Japan | 0.53 | |||
| Morocco | 0.40 | 0.46 | ||
| Iran | 0.28 | 0.36 | ||
| Other | 3.43 | 0.94 | 4.37 | 6.23 |
Missing figures are not available in USDA Tables |
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The production (million tonnes and % of world total) of soybeans in USA, Brazil, and Argentina is given in Table 3 for the 10 years 1998/99 to 2008/09. The general increases in production levels are interrupted through marked falls in production in USA in 2007/08 and in Argentina in 2008/09. By the eighth year of the decade soybean production in North and South America had risen from 126 to 195 million tonnes since when it has fallen back to 170 million tonnes. Over 80% of world production of soybeans now comes from North and South America. Though the largest producer, USA has declined in dominance while Brazil and Argentina have risen and the South American countries together have produced more soybean than the USA since 2002/03.
Table 3. Production (million tonnes and % of world total) of soybeans in USA, Brazil, and Argentina for the 10 years 1998/99 to 2008/09. |
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| Total | USA | Brazil | Argentina | Sub-total (3) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mt | % | mt | % | mt | % | mt | % | ||
| 1998/99 | 159.8 | 74.6 | 46.7 | 31.3 | 19.6 | 20.0 | 12.5 | 125.9 | 78.8 |
| 1999/00 | 160.4 | 72.2 | 45.0 | 34.7 | 21.6 | 21.2 | 13.2 | 128.1 | 79.9 |
| 2000/01 | 175.8 | 75.1 | 42.7 | 39.5 | 22.5 | 27.8 | 15.8 | 142.4 | 81.0 |
| 2001/02 | 184.8 | 78.7 | 42.6 | 43.5 | 23.5 | 30.0 | 16.2 | 152.2 | 82.4 |
| 2002/03 | 196.8 | 75.0 | 38.1 | 52.0 | 26.4 | 35.5 | 18.0 | 162.5 | 82.6 |
| 2003/04 | 186.6 | 66.8 | 35.8 | 51.0 | 27.3 | 33.0 | 17.7 | 150.8 | 80.8 |
| 2004/05 | 215.7 | 85.0 | 39.4 | 53.0 | 24.6 | 39.0 | 18.1 | 177.0 | 82.1 |
| 2005/06 | 220.7 | 83.5 | 37.8 | 57.0 | 25.8 | 40.5 | 18.3 | 181.0 | 82.0 |
| 2006/07 | 237.1 | 87.0 | 36.7 | 59.0 | 24.9 | 48.8 | 20.6 | 194.8 | 82.2 |
| 2007/08 | 221.2 | 72.9 | 33.0 | 61.0 | 27.6 | 46.2 | 20.9 | 180.1 | 81.4 |
| 2008/09 | 210.6 | 80.5 | 38.2 | 57.0 | 27.1 | 32.0 | 15.2 | 169.5 | 80.5 |
The figures for 2008/09 differ from the trend with very low production in Argentina because of severe drought conditions. The predicted figure for 2009/10 at 51.0 million tonnes is back on trend.
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Scottish Crop Research Institute (and MRS Lipid Analysis Unit), Invergowrie, Dundee (DD2 5DA), Scotland. |
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Updated: Nov. 29th, 2009 |
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