Middle East and North Africa Exhibits Strong Growth in Soybean Trade

The Middle East¹ and North Africa² region (MENA) is an emerging market for soybeans and products. The overall economic picture for the region is promising. Real GDP in many countries is expected to continue growing at over 4 percent per year. This translates into continued growth for oilseeds, particularly soybeans. From the 1995/96 marketing year to 1998/99, consumption of soybeans increased 42 percent, of soybean meal 24 percent, and of soyoil 41 percent. Forecasts for 1999/00 show continued strong growth in soybeans and meal consumption, while soyoil imports are expected to plateau.

Much of the growth in soybeans and meal consumption can be attributed to the healthy expansion of the poultry sector in the region. Poultry production has increased 25 percent since 1995. Along with the increases in production have come increased modernization of the poultry industry helping to raise demand for protein meals. With soybean production in the region limited by climate, soybean imports have increased along with new or expanded crushing facilities in the region. In Egypt, a new crushing plant will operate in 1999/00, increasing that country’s crushing capacity by over 1 million tons. Algeria is expected to soon begin operation of its first crushing facility, as well. In another major market, Turkey has benefited from the use of the GSM-102 program to improve utilization of their existing crushing capacity and increase soybean imports.

Soyoil demand has increased in importance within the region at the expense of sunflowerseed oil. While vegetable oil consumption has grown 12 percent since 1995/96, soyoil use has shown a 41-percent increase and sunflowerseed oil demand has shown no growth over the same period. Soyoil now accounts for 32 percent of all edible oil consumption within the region. Soyoil consumption should continue to grow with the introduction of new crushing and refining facilities. However, with an increasing portion of soyoil produced domestically, soyoil imports will suffer.

When downloading the presentation in Freelance version 2.1 format, please note that some versions of Netscape Navigator will change the filename extension; if this happens, you MUST rename the file to .pre to access it.

For more information, contact the author, Erich Kuss, of the Cotton, Oilseeds, Tobacco and Seeds Division, Foreign Agricultural Service on (202) 690-6196.

^{___________________________________

1} The Middle East is defined as the following countries: Bahrain, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, UAE, and Yemen.
² North Africa is defined as the following countries: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.


View the full presentation	Download the presentation in Freelance 2.1