The U.S. exported 5.8 million metric tons of soybeans in 1964. Over the year U.S. soybean exports have steadily climbed and by 2012 the U.S. exported 35.8 million metric tons. But when considering the total soy complex including soyoil and soymeal, although exports have dramatically increased in the past five decades, the U.S. share of the world market has continually declined – mostly due to the emergence of Brazil and Argentina. In 1964 Brazil exported 1.8% of the world’s soybean complex exports and by 2012 Brazil was exporting 32.2% of the global exports. Of Brazil’s exports, soybean meal accounted for 23.7%. Argentina did not begin exporting any soybean products until 1972 when it accounted for 0.2% of global exports. By 2012 Argentina’s share had grown to 24.1% with Argentina shipping 45.5% of the global soybean meal exports. A lot of this growth is due to China. Since the mid-1990s China has gone from meeting its domestic soybean complex need through domestic production , to where domestic production meets only 16.9% of the country’s consumption.
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