Severe Soybean Meal Shortage Having Knock-On Effect in Russia

Russia’s demand for soybean meal totals approximately 5 million tons per year; however a severe lack of soybeans has led the country to need to import 43 percent of its supply.

This high dependence on imports is having a knock-on effect, leading to high prices for compound feed and raising production costs for the livestock industry.

In 2014 Russia’s Agriculture Ministry announced a plan to increase soybean production to 7.1 million tons by 2020, making the country self-sufficient, however, nearly half the country is not suitable for soybean production due to its harsh climate.

Russia expanded its soybean acreage by 100,000 hectares to 2.22 million hectares last year, and was able to lift yields from 1.3 tons per hectare in 2015 to 1.48 tons per hectare in 2016. Although these are significant steps, the country’s record output of 3.1 million tons of soybeans last year still doesn’t come close to meeting demand. Furthermore, the country faces the scenario of having more soybean processing capacity than soybeans to process.

More on this story