Market News & Headlines >> May Soybean Imports More than Double 2013

Monthly U.S. soybean imports hit a 2013-14 high of 8.28 million bushels in May as shipments from Brazil picked up, according to data released by the Census Bureau on July 3 and compiled by USDA.

The May imports were up from April shipments of 7.12 million bushels and were more than double the May 2013 imports of 3.59 million. U.S. soybean imports for the 2013-14 marketing year to date (September-May) hit 38.76 million bushels, surpassing U.S. imports for all of 2012-13, which totaled 36.16 million bushels.

The U.S. imported 5.04 million bushels of soybeans from Brazil during May, along with 2.22 million bushels from Canada, 445,000 bushels from India and 295,000 from China.

U.S. soybean imports likely stepped up further during June as shipments from Brazil rose further. The U.S. will have to import 51.24 million bushels of soybeans during the June-August period in order to meet USDA’s current 2013-14 import forecast of 90 million bushels.