Soy purchasers from across the globe came together May 11-15 in Fargo, N.D., to participate in the Northern Crops Institute’s (NCI) Soybean and Soybean Meal Procurement course. Nearly 40 participants from 18 different countries, including Pakistan, China, Morocco, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Tunisia, signed up for the program to learn more about the mechanics of soybean and soybean meal procurement. The course, which was co-sponsored by the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council, provides an overview of the U.S. soybean handling and marketing system and risk management tools available to assist buyers in purchasing U.S. soybeans and meal that meets their quality needs.  

“Really, what we’re trying to do is differentiate U.S. soy from soy from other origins. That’s the message we want to install in our buyers,” said Saram Bokhari, Pakistan market lead for the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), who brought four soy purchasers from the Pakistan region. “Through this course, what we want our buyers to understand is how to look at futures, how you can hedge, how to look at options and look at basis price and understand the ecosystem around the soybean supply chain in the U.S.” 

Pakistan is currently in the top 10 countries that import soybeans from the U.S., importing roughly a million metric tons a year, which accounts for roughly 40% of their total imports with the rest coming from South America.  

While there are nearly the same amount of soybean crush facilities in Pakistan as there are in the U.S., the processing capabilities are smaller, with the average facility capable of handling 300,000 metric ton a year. That’s a stark contrast to the crush facilities in China, which also had a handful of participants in the NCI course, including Calvin Wang of Hopeful Grain and Oil Group of Beijing.  

“The soybean crushing business in China is highly competitive, so we always need to understand the market to be able to survive the competition,” Wang said. “My role with the company is to purchase the cargo and also doing the hedges on the Chicago Board of Trade.” 

While Wang’s company, which has a capacity to crush about 8 million tons of soybeans annually, was currently not purchasing U.S. soybeans due to the tariffs and ongoing trade disputes, he noted that to he hoped to resume purchases because of the quality difference of U.S. over those from competitors in South America. 

“The quality is relatively stable, of course the price is higher,” Wang said, “but the U.S. soybeans have less foreign material compared to the Brazilian soybeans.”  

The course featured daily lectures at both the Northern Crops Institute and North Dakota State University’s Barry J Hall, which provided access to the North Dakota State University Commodity Trading Room, a high-tech room that simulates trading using live market information. Over the course of the week the group learned from experts on cash and futures markets and the complex international commodity markets through soybean and soybean meal merchandisers. In addition to the classroom work, the delegation also toured the North Dakota Soybean Processors soybean crush facility in Casselton and toured a North Dakota farm amid their soybean planting season. 

“It was a great experience and the farm owner, Mr. McDonald, explained the process of preparing the land for planting to harvesting,” said Mahmoud El Gendy, who is the head of trading for the one of the largest poultry and feed mill companies in Egypt. “The visit to the crush facility is a good opportunity for us to see and compare with our local crushing plants.” 

After the five days in Fargo, most of the participants headed west to Oregon and Washington to learn more about the soybean transportation industry in the Pacific Northwest. Leaders from MSR&PC will return to NCI June 8-12 for the INTSOY: Introduction to Soybean in-person course.