Ukraine Enters the World's Top 10 Soybean Producers

In the 2024/25 marketing year, Ukraine has entered the world's top 10 soybean producers. The country currently ranks ninth in this rating. However, according to analysts, Ukraine "does not set the tone in the global market" and does not significantly affect the level of prices or global production volumes and the course of "trade wars."  

According to experts, in the current season, the European Union will remain one of the main sales markets for domestic soybeans and, most likely, will remain so in the next marketing year. Europe is purchasing significant volumes of soybeans from Ukraine this year, which is the third largest supplier after Brazil and Argentina with a share in the total import volume of 11.6% compared to 8% a year earlier. The Netherlands is the most active buyer of Ukrainian soybeans in the current season, and there is also interest from Italy and Greece. Among other importing countries, Pakistan should be highlighted, which imported about 650 thousand tons of soybeans in the first half of the current season, of which 245-250 thousand tons were supplied from Ukraine.

However, it should be taken into account that this year a decrease in soybean acreage is expected in Ukraine, which will primarily be due to lower prices for this crop in the current season and more attractive prices for corn and sunflower. This forecast was announced on March 27 by Svitlana Kirychok, an oil market analyst at APK-Inform IA, in her report at the Soybean and Meal market conference in Kyiv. According to her, the sown area under this crop in Ukraine may decrease in 2025 by 10-13% compared to the previous year, which is not as significant as expected earlier, and will amount to about 2.3-2.35 million hectares. Soybean production may decrease to 5.7-5.8 million tons, but, nevertheless, it will be one of the highest indicators for the industry. At the same time, she confirmed the fact that the price of soybeans this season "does not quite suit farmers." If last season the cost of soybeans was one of the highest among oilseeds in Ukraine, this year it is the opposite.

"At the same time, it is important to note that in the 2024/25 season, demand for soybeans has increased both in the domestic and foreign markets, and this is a fundamental difference between the soybean and sunflower markets, the sale of which is mainly carried out by domestic processors," the analyst added.

In addition, she reminded that the capacity for processing oilseeds in Ukraine continues to increase and soybeans are a good alternative for increasing the workload of factories. This, in her opinion, will be one of the factors that will support soybean acreage at fairly high levels in the long term.

"We expect that there will be some reduction in acreage in the central and southern regions, where the crop cannot fully realize its potential due to climatic conditions. The main soybean production will remain concentrated in the central, western and northern parts of Ukraine," the speaker summarized.