Higher Soybean Demand Seen for Indonesia
Singapore. Indonesia, the largest US export market for soybeans in Southeast Asia, is likely to increase purchases of the beans this year, a US executive said, despite an overall decline in demand in Southeast Asia predicted at as much as 10 percent.
The country’s slowing economy may boost spending on tofu and tempe, made from fermented soybeans and used as a meat substitute, the American Soybean Association’s regional director, John Lindblom, said in an interview in Singapore on Wednesday, without providing a forecast.
The American Soybean Association represents 22,000 soybean farmers in the United States.
“We’re selling a lot of soybeans in Indonesia,” Lindblom said. “This economic crisis must be hurting them. When the economy is good again, they’ll probably switch back to meat.”
Indonesia’s use of soybeans as a meat substitute goes against the overall trend in Southeast Asia, where the beans are used more for livestock feed, he said. For this reason, demand for soybean meal in the region is expected to decline by as much as 10 percent as people seek to replace meat in their diet and lack of credit hurts small livestock farmers and feed millers, Lindblom said.
Use of the meal as an ingredient in feed for pigs, poultry and shrimp, may drop from 9.5 million metric tons last year, Lindblom said.
“A lot of the smaller feed millers, small pig and poultry farmers in the Philippines and Thailand couldn’t compete because of the high prices,” he said.
Borrowing costs surged after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed in September, prompting some banks to hoard cash and choking off lending to small feed millers and livestock farmers.
“Since last year, a lot of exporters were already starting to be more selective of their customers, taking a closer look at their credit worthiness,” Lindblom said.
Soybean meal futures declined 11 percent in Chicago in the past year. The contract for May delivery gained 0.6 percent to $296.10 a ton on the Chicago Board of Trade at 11:41 a.m. Singapore time on Thursday.
Bloomberg
The country’s slowing economy may boost spending on tofu and tempe, made from fermented soybeans and used as a meat substitute, the American Soybean Association’s regional director, John Lindblom, said in an interview in Singapore on Wednesday, without providing a forecast.
The American Soybean Association represents 22,000 soybean farmers in the United States.
“We’re selling a lot of soybeans in Indonesia,” Lindblom said. “This economic crisis must be hurting them. When the economy is good again, they’ll probably switch back to meat.”
Indonesia’s use of soybeans as a meat substitute goes against the overall trend in Southeast Asia, where the beans are used more for livestock feed, he said. For this reason, demand for soybean meal in the region is expected to decline by as much as 10 percent as people seek to replace meat in their diet and lack of credit hurts small livestock farmers and feed millers, Lindblom said.
Use of the meal as an ingredient in feed for pigs, poultry and shrimp, may drop from 9.5 million metric tons last year, Lindblom said.
“A lot of the smaller feed millers, small pig and poultry farmers in the Philippines and Thailand couldn’t compete because of the high prices,” he said.
Borrowing costs surged after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed in September, prompting some banks to hoard cash and choking off lending to small feed millers and livestock farmers.
“Since last year, a lot of exporters were already starting to be more selective of their customers, taking a closer look at their credit worthiness,” Lindblom said.
Soybean meal futures declined 11 percent in Chicago in the past year. The contract for May delivery gained 0.6 percent to $296.10 a ton on the Chicago Board of Trade at 11:41 a.m. Singapore time on Thursday.
Bloomberg