Exports

The Eastern Region Soybean Board helps fund a U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) study into the potential for using bulk containers to ship U.S. soybeans to niche export markets from the East Coast.

According to USSEC, “the trend of containerized shipping for bulk agricultural products is moving upward because of several factors. There is a huge imbalance of container traffic between the U.S. and Asia and to some extent the European Union. More than half of the containers loaded in Asia and shipped to the U.S. return to Asia empty.”

“There is an opportunity to take advantage of empty containers returning to export markets. U.S. soybean producers and industry (whether agricultural or retail) have the opportunity to use these empty containers to their advantage.  There are other benefits to choosing this mode of transportation: most importantly, keeping the quality of U.S. produced soybeans high and offering a competitive advantage for the U.S. soybean industry.”

Click here to learn more about the soy checkoff’s efforts to build and maintain international markets.