U.S. Supplying More Than Half of the E.U. Soybeans

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The European Commission released a report that says American farmers are now supplying more than half of the European Union’s soybeans. Over a 12-week period from July through mid-September, U.S. soy exports to the EU were 133 percent higher than the same time period in 2017. Politico says the U.S. supplied 25 percent of the EU’s soybeans needs from July through mid-September in 2017, with that number growing to 52 percent of the EU’s soybeans in 2018. While the increase in soybean exports does provide some relief to American farmers, it still can’t replace all of the lost soybean sales to China. The U.S. exported roughly $587 million worth of soybeans to Europe during that 12-week period, which calculates out to $2.5 billion on an annual basis. China bought $12.3 billion worth of U.S. soybeans in 2017. That’s 60 percent of all U.S. soybean exports. As farmers know firsthand, those sales have dried up since China imposed a 25 percent retaliatory tariff on American soybeans, as well as a host of other U.S. ag exports in July. The E.U. figures show that U.S. farmers have replaced Brazil as the top supplier for Europe. That comes as Brazil has replaced the U.S. as the top soybean supplier to China.