Soy Bean Price

The current soy bean price is always moving. This raw material gets traded around the world like oil and gold and is therefore very versatile.

What are soy beans?

As mentioned before the soy bean is a legume. Originally they come from East Asia, but they are now planted, harvested and consumed worldwide.

Soy products are used in many different ways. We eat them for our own consumption, we use them as food for animals and in industrial products.

Soy beans are sold, cooked and eaten in many different ways. The diversity arises because soy beans can be fresh, frozen, canned and dried when they are sold.

History of the soy bean

Chinese farmers started cultivating soy beans about 5.000 years ago. Only in around 1800 did the United States start planting them. The United States did grow fast and is currently the world’s largest producer of the soy bean.

Riping and harvesting

Soy beans are harvested when they are green or ripe, after which they are sold fresh or dried. The ‘unripe’ soy beans is called and edamame. You might know them through your favorite sushi restaurant for example. They are smooth, crispy, firm and keep their structure after cooking.

Ripe soy beans are light brown. They are sold with and without their peel. Some are dried, which makes them a little bit smaller. These have to be cultivated first and then cooked after.

Races of soy bean

There is a wide variety of soy beans. There are over 2500 different kinds. They vary in color from white to black, brown and green. Every type is cultivated for another purpose.

Popularity of soy beans

More and more people find out about ‘all you can eat’ sushi restaurants. The popularity of the soy bean rose a lot because of this. The amount of soy sauce that is spread worldwide grows as well, because of the large amounts of tofu that we eat yearly. It is a replacement for meat, a nice dressing and food for livestock.

Soy beans have many advantages when in food. It provides all 9 essential aminoacids and are therefore seen as a complete protein. It also has a low saturated fat amount and low cholesterol. This makes the soy bean an ideal replacement for meat.

Production countries for soy beans

Where is the soy bean coming from and who produces them? The United States dominates the soy bean market. They hold over 50 percent of all worldwide production. Brazil is in a steady second place having around 20 percent of the total market.

The harvest in the United States starts in September. The production of the soy bean is very cyclical.

Industrial use

As mentioned earlier, soy oil is used as bio diesel. Using soy beans therefore also makes a new renewable resource when it comes to fuels. Biodiesel is cleaner, burning and renewable alternative for petroleum diesel.

Biodiesel mixed with diesel. This lessens the greenhouse gases emissions by about 86%.

Investing in soy beans

There are many different ways to invest in soy beans. It is a popular raw material and some examples of how to trade them are:

• Futures
• ETFs
• Stock of soy bean companies
• CFDs

Besides the soy bean it is also possible to invest in soy oil and soy flour. Soy oil is also called plant-based oil and is made from the extract of the soy bean. Soy flour is another extract of the soy bean and has a rich amount of protein. It is also used a lot as raw material of food for livestock, cows and pigs.

Soy oil is gaining in popularity. That is mainly because there are more developments like using it for alternative energy. The technology has come so far that soy oil can be used in biodiesel.

*Futures are a kind of financial derivative, namely a financial contract between two parties that connect to each other to trade the agreed upon on a certain date against a predetermined and at the end paid price.

*ETFs are exchange-traded funds, also called index trackers. They are a passively owned investment fund that is traded on the exchange. The investment goal of an ETF is to be as accurate as possible in following underlying exchange indexes.

*CFDs are contract for difference, a contract between two parties that usually are described as the buyer and the seller, where the seller pays the difference between the value of an underlying product at buy and sale. When this difference is negative, the buyer pays the seller.

What to know before investing and trading soy beans

Four times a year, the American ministry of agriculture (USDA), writes a report on all grain supplies. This report, where the supply capacity of all grains is determined, is the most important information when tradign in soy beans.

This report has a few important information sources:

• Supply (detailed overview of the yearly change in supplies of soy beans)
• Grain supply per position (shows a graph with the yearly changes of supply, split into positions)
• Soy bean supply per state

Will the price of soy beans increase in the future?

When we look at the future, the expectation is that the soy bean will profit of the strong worldwide growth. Thsi will create a larger demand for livestock feed and oil. Moreover so when developing countries become richer. The demand for feed for livestock, soy oil and soy products will grow together with this fact.

Does climate change have an influence on the production of soy beans?

As we see every day, the earth is being damaged by climate change a lot. The production of soy beans could also suffer because of this. If the weather patterns continue, this could influence all global food productions and supplies. This could be that the demand for soy beans will at some point be greater than the supply of it.

The price for soy beans is correlated to the price of other grains like corn, wheat and oats.