Soybeans & Soybean Meal Supply

World Trend in Soybean & Soybean Meal Production

According to the United States Department of Agriculture statistics, global production of both soybeans & soybean meal has been increasing steadily since 1996. In 1996, the soybean production occupied 50.5 per cent, or 132.22 milltion metric tons, of the world's total oilseed output, which stood at 261.40 million metric tons. In January 2001, the estimated figure for world's production of soybean reaches 167.18 million metric tons, which occupies approximately 50.1 per cent of the gloal oilseed output at 303.47 million metric tons.

Source: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

One of the reasons behind this upward trend comes from the demand for soybean meal in animal feed. As global demand for meat consumption rises, the demand for animal feed also increases. In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics shows that global meat production has increased 13.16 per cent from 206.24 million metric tons in 1996 to 237.5 million metric tons in 2001. And this increasing meat production contributes to the growth of soybean meal production used in animal feeding.