Brazilian trading companies loaded 22.8 million tons of soybeans onto ships in the year to March 25, with 17.7 million tons going to China, said Eduardo Vanin, an analyst at Agrinvest. He noted that both figures “are records”.

Brazil's soybean shipments to China in the first quarter also reflect advance purchases of around 33 million tons made until December 2024, when the new crop was not yet harvested and Chinese crushing markets were healthy, Vanin said. This represents 7 million tons more than in the previous season, at the same time, he said.

Luiz Fernando Roque, Market Intelligence Coordinator at Hedgepoint Global Markets, expects Brazil's soybean shipments to China to beat last year's record in the first quarter, totaling up to 18 million tons in the period, about 2 million tons more than the previous year.

(Source: Forbes, on March 28)