Traders imported 700 metric tons of U.S. soymeal
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
U.S. soybean meal has entered a Central Asian country for the first time.
The Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) announced on Aug. 11 that 700 metric tons of U.S. soymeal entered Uzbekistan.
“Getting soybeans to Uzbekistan can be challenging, as it is a double landlocked country. However, this shipment has potential to create a significant market for Minnesota soybean farmers,” Patrick O’Leary, director of the MSR&PC, said in a statement.
Work on getting U.S. soymeal to Uzbekistan is two years in the making.
The MSR&PC began with surveys in 2020 to identify how the country could use U.S. soy products.
Until the idea of the introduction of U.S. soy, producers in Uzbekistan used sunflower, seed meal, cotton seed meal and other related products.
And because of drought or war, those products are in short supply.
Survey from 2020 data indicated the country had modern operations in the poultry, dairy and aquaculture industries.
“And quite frankly, until we did the surveys, no one really was aware that (farmers in Uzbekistan) installed such modern technology and had entrepreneurs and the capital to put together those facilities,” Kim Nill, director of market development with the MSR&PC, said in a statement.
The soymeal arrived in Uzbekistan after eight months of transport.
The products must now undergo testing to ensure its quality.
“Right now they are testing the waters with our soybeans,” Nill said. “We need to keep chirping in their ear the benefits of our product.”
Uzbektistan was 150th among U.S. ag export markets in 2021.
The U.S. exported $2.84 million of ag produces to the country that year, USDA data says.
Top ag commodities exported to Uzbekistan in 2021 included planting seeds, poultry meat, beef and beef products.
U.S. soybean farmers will travel to Uzbekistan on a trade mission in September.