OILS AND FATS IN THE MARKET PLACE
COMMODITY OILS AND FATS
SOYBEAN OIL
Soybeans are grown predominantly in North and South America where 38% and 47%, respectively, of the 2006/07 world supply of beans was harvested. Further details are given in Table 3 and discussed below. It is only recently that total production in South America has exceeded that from the United States. World production rose from 184.4 to 235.0 million tonnes (27%) in the last five years. Of the increase of 51 million tonnes, 10 million tonnes came from North America and 35 million tonnes from South America. The products of soybean agriculture are traded as beans and also as extracted oil and these must always be distinguished.
84% of total soybean production was crushed (somewhere) and 15% was traded mainly with China and EU-27. These two countries import 43 and 21%, respectively, of all traded beans. Among the three large American producers the United States crushes some of its beans for oil and meal and exports some as beans. This applies also to Brazil but at lower levels. In contrast, Argentina crushes most of its soybeans and exports oil rather than beans.
Soybean oil is second only to palm oil in level of production and is an important oil used widely, mainly but not entirely, for food purposes. It is an unsaturated oil rich in linoleic (typically 53%) and linolenic acids (typically 8%). Both these polyunsaturated fatty acids have valuable nutritional properties, but linolenic acid in particular contributes to oxidative instability, so soybean oil is generally subject to light hydrogenation to halve the content of this acid thereby enhancing shelf-life. For use in spreads the oil has to be partially hydrogenated to raise its content of solid triacylglycerols. This leads to the formation of saturated acids and unsaturated acids with trans unsaturation. The latter are now recognised as worse than saturated acids in their cholesterol-raising activity. Alternative recipes have been devised that reduce the requirement for partially hydrogenated fat. This is a problem particularly for the US where fat consumed as food comes almost entirely from soybean oil. Another problem with the US soybean-based diet is the high omega-6:omega-3 ratio when a much lower ratio is desirable. In particular there is need for an increased intake of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids from marine sources. The figures in the Tables relating to soybean oil do not recognise those variants in which the fatty acid content has been changed by genetic or conventional seed breeding procedures.
Table 1. Soybeans: production, trade, and crushing (million tonnes) in 2006/07. |
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| Production | Exports | Imports | Crushing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World | 235.0 | 70.1 | 70.2 | 198.0 |
| USA | 86.8 | 29.7 | 48.4 | |
| Brazil | 59.0 | 25.4 | 29.9 | |
| Argentina | 46.2 | 7.5 | 1.7 | 35.3 |
| China | 15.9 | 0.4 | 30.5 | 36.3 |
| India | 7.6 | 6.8 | ||
| Paraguay | 6.0 | 3.7 | ||
| Canada | 3.5 | 1.7 | 1.5 | |
| EU-27 | 14.9 | 14.4 | ||
| Japan | 4.1 | 3.0 | ||
| Mexico | 4.0 | 3.7 | ||
| Other | 10.0 | 1.7 | 15.0 | 10.7 |
Table 2. Soybean oil: production, trade, and food and non-food consumption (million tonnes) in 2006/07. |
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| Production | Exports | Imports | Consumption | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World | 36.72 | 10.61 | 10.66 | 36.59 |
| USA | 9.16 | 0.68 | 8.57 | |
| Argentina | 6.72 | 6.25 | 0.39 | |
| China | 6.36 | 1.70 | 7.92 | |
| Brazil | 5.76 | 2.22 | 3.45 | |
| EU-27 | 2.67 | 0.27 | 1.14 | 3.51 |
| India | 1.23 | 1.46 | 2.68 | |
| Japan | 0.57 | 0.63 | ||
| Taiwan | 0.42 | 0.43 | ||
| Iran | 0.24 | 0.76 | 0.81 | |
| S Korea | 0.17 | 0.29 | 0.46 | |
| Morocco | 0.39 | 0.47 | ||
| Mexico | 0.67 | 0.80 | ||
| Other | 2.75 | 1.19 | 4.92 | 6.47 |
The production (million tonnes and % of world total) of soybeans in USA, Brazil, and Argentina is given in Table 3 for the 13 years 1995/96 to 2007/08. During that period world production rose from 125 to 237 million tonnes and for those three counties from 96 to 195 million tonnes. Over 80% of world production now comes from North and South America. Though the largest produce, USA has declined in dominance (49 to 32%) while Brazil (19 to 28%) and Argentina have risen (9-21%) and these two counties together have produced more soybean than the USA since 2002/03.
Table 3. Production (million tonnes and % of world total) of soybeans in USA, Brazil, and Argentina for the 13 years 1995/96 to 2007/08. |
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| Total | USA | Brazil | Argentina | Sub-total (3) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mt | % | mt | % | mt | % | mt | % | ||
| 1995/96 | 124.7 | 59.2 | 47.5 | 24.1 | 19.3 | 12.5 | 10.0 | 95.8 | 76.8 |
| 1996/97 | 132.0 | 64.8 | 49.1 | 27.3 | 20.7 | 11.2 | 8.5 | 103.3 | 78.3 |
| 1997/98 | 158.0 | 73.2 | 46.3 | 32.5 | 20.6 | 19.5 | 12.3 | 125.2 | 79.2 |
| 1998/99 | 159.8 | 74.6 | 46.7 | 31.3 | 19.6 | 20.0 | 12.5 | 125.9 | 78.8 |
| 1999/00 | 160.4 | 72.2 | 45.0 | 34.7 | 21.6 | 21.2 | 13.2 | 128.1 | 79.9 |
| 2000/01 | 175.8 | 75.1 | 42.7 | 39.5 | 22.5 | 27.8 | 15.8 | 142.4 | 81.0 |
| 2001/02 | 184.8 | 78.7 | 42.6 | 43.5 | 23.5 | 30.0 | 16.2 | 152.2 | 82.4 |
| 2002/03 | 196.8 | 75.0 | 38.1 | 52.0 | 26.4 | 35.5 | 18.0 | 162.5 | 82.6 |
| 2003/04 | 186.6 | 66.8 | 35.8 | 51.0 | 27.3 | 33.0 | 17.7 | 150.8 | 80.8 |
| 2004/05 | 215.7 | 85.0 | 39.4 | 53.0 | 24.6 | 39.0 | 18.1 | 177.0 | 82.1 |
| 2005/06 | 220.5 | 83.4 | 37.8 | 57.0 | 25.9 | 40.5 | 18.4 | 180.9 | 82.0 |
| 2006/07 | 237.4 | 86.8 | 36.6 | 59.0 | 24.9 | 48.8 | 20.6 | 194.6 | 82.0 |
| 2007/08 | 219.7 | 70.4 | 32.0 | 61.0 | 27.8 | 47.0 | 21.4 | 178.4 | 81.2 |
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Updated: 27/6/2008 |
Scottish Crop Research Institute (and MRS Lipid Analysis Unit), Invergowrie, Dundee (DD2 5DA), Scotland
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