IGC shortens global soybean harvest 2019/20 - slightly higher consumption - soy courses attract International Grains Council (IGC) shortens in its recent September 19 edition the global soybean harvest 342.4 million tonnes. This is a decrease from the previous year of approx. 21 million t . The reduction in soybean production is mainly due to harvest losses of approx. 25 million tonnes in the US . Due to the adverse weather conditions during sowing in May 2019, the US acreage was withdrawn. The late sowing shortens the vegetation period with the consequence of low area yields . On the consumption side, soybean use is expected to increase by +6 million tonnes . The shortfall between harvest and consumption leads to a reduction in inventories , which should fall from 54 to 38 million tonnes.The US is benefiting from a reduction in its extremely high inventories from 27 in the previous year to 17 million tonnes in the future. That is still three times higher than was usual in previous years. The world's largest soybean consumption is China, at 103.5 million tonnes, or just under 30%. With a self-generation of approx. 17 million tonnes have a Chinese import requirement of 88 million tonnes . Although this is significantly less than in previous years, it still accounts for just under 60% of world trade. The EU imports just under 16 million tonnes of soybeans plus almost 19 million tonnes of soybean meal. The beans come to 44% from Brazil and 34% from the United States . In the case of imports of soybean meal , the South American countries dominate with approx. 45% from Brazil or Argentina. The largest EU countries that import whole beans are the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Italy. In the case of soybean meal, the countries of Spain, France, Poland, Italy and Great Britain are in the lead.Germany contributes 17% to beans and 6% to shotgun.
