Browse Data and Analysis

Major bulk commodities, as a share of total U.S. agricultural exports, have risen and fallen dramatically since 2020. Beyond short-term price volatilities that have largely driven these developments, changes to the largest overseas market and an increasingly competitive landscape also affect the prospect for major U.S. bulk exports.

FAS/Cairo (Post) forecasts Egypt’s soybean imports in marketing year (MY) 2025/26 (October – September) to increase by 5.0 percent from the previous marketing driven by a flexible exchange rate, the availability of forex and a more positive outlook for the livestock sectors.

FAS/Cairo (Post) forecasts Egypt’s soybean imports in marketing year (MY) 2024/25 (October – September) to increase by 14.8 percent from the previous marketing year, due to an influx of foreign currency into Egyptian banks.

The Black Sea region is a significant supplier of agricultural commodities to the world. Over the past year, global grain and oilseed markets have been roiled by the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine.

The 2022 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world during the 2022 calendar year.

Egyptian traders and crushers continue to demand sustainability and quality of supply, both of which are key features of U.S.-origin soybean. This demand produced another record year for U.S.-origin soybean exports to Egypt with 4.07 MMT in exports, was by far Egypt’s largest supplier of soybeans in marketing year 2021/22.

The 2021 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world.

Marketing year 2020/21 was another record year for U.S.-origin soybean exports to Egypt. The United States, with 2.53 MMT in exports, was Egypt’s largest supplier of soybeans. Egypt’s soybean imports in marketing year (MY) 2022/23 (October-September) are forecast at 4.0 million metric tons (MMT), up 400,000 MT from the MY 2021/22 estimate.

A number of factors have converged over the last 18 months to send global agricultural commodity prices to near-record levels. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and the potential loss of Ukrainian exports – was the latest development to push commodity prices higher.

In the first quarter of 2021, U.S. soybean exports reached the second-highest value ever at $7.7 billion, nearly double the same period last year.

A package of export restricting measures aimed at the oilseeds market is expected to dampen the trend of increasing oilseed production in Russia.

The Russian Federation recently extended the waiver on a previously established ban of imports of some GE soybeans and soybean meal without state registration to January 1, 2022.