Chinese demand for Brazilian soy leaves biodiesel producers without feedstock

In Brazil, Bloomberg reports that thanks to demand for soybeans from China that have seen premiums double this past year, domestic soybean crushers are expected to hold off until the harvest begins in 2019 because of negative margins. So, while overall exports of soybeans are up 13% on the year through September with 91% of September’s 4.9 million metric tons of exports headed to China, the country has had to shift to importing soy oil for biodiesel production. In September, soy oil imports were 10,000 tons, up from 2,000 tons in September 2017.