According to the latest figures published by the European Commission's Crops Market Observatory on Thursday 20 September, the market share of US soya beans in European imports leapt from 25% to 52% between 2017 and 2018.
This is an increase of 133% (to 1.4 million tonnes) this year compared with the first 12 weeks of the 2017 marketing year (from mid July to mid September), the Commission states in its press release. "I welcome the latest trade figures which show that we are delivering on the commitment made by Presidents Juncker and Trump to increase trade, particularly in relation to soya beans", European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan said.
At the time of publication of the first Crops Market Observatory report in August, which covered the first five weeks of the ongoing marketing year, imports already amounted to 360,000 tonnes, corresponding to a 280% year-on-year increase. The USA is thus ahead of Brazil (40%), Canada (2.3%), Paraguay (2.3%) and Uruguay (1.7%).
The stakes are high. In order to avoid a trade war with the USA, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker met US President Donald Trump on 25 July to find a peaceful outcome to the crisis. Their high-pressure meeting resulted in a joint statement that committed the EU to increasing its imports of US soya beans (see EUROPE 12071, 12092). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)