Vietnam soybean imports to more than double to 1.5 mln T in 2012

Vietnam’s soybean imports next year, mainly from South America, are forecast to more than double to 1.5 million tonnes thanks to demand largely from the country’s two crushing plants, both opened this year, traders said on 27 June, 2011. Soybean import this year is expected to hit 700,000 tonnes following the operation of the plants, one capable of crushing more than 3,000 tonnes daily, operated by agricultural processor Bunge , and another using around 1,000 tonnes a day, traders said.
Bunge has begun production at its $100 million soybean crushing plant in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, which would help reduce risk and costs for local feed importers, the company and traders said.
Vietnamese private firm Quang Minh Corp said it opened the other plant on May 28 in the northern province of Hung Yen. Its oil product would be used for the domestic market and for export to Singapore, India, Laos and Thailand.
The import forecasts for next year is already higher than a projection of 1 million tonnes in 2012 by a U.S. industry official in March.
Bunge said it would crush 1 million tonnes of soybean a year. Traders said the company often imports soybean from Brazil, Argentina and the United States.
"While the import of soybean will be on the rise, soymeal import will drop thanks to domestic production," a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said.
Vietnam is estimated to import around 2.5 million tonnes of soymeal this year, within its normal range of annual purchases from abroad in recent years, traders said.
It bought 600,000 tonnes of soymeal from India last year.
The country’s soymeal import season from South America, such as Brazil and Argentina, often lasts between April and October, while the Indian origin takes up the remaining November-March period.
Domestic soybean production is small, compared with the country’s demand. Last year output jumped 38 percent from 2009 to 270,000 tonnes as the total planting area expanded 34.6 percent to 198,000 hectares (490,000 acres), government statistics show.

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