Bangladesh is the 10th-largest market of US Soybean as year-on-year import is growing mainly to produce cooking oil and feed for poultry, aquaculture and livestock, according to market insiders.
The country's private-sector leaders and experts said US soybean consumption by local industries was growing for better quality and the presence of high protein.
Bangladesh imported US soybean worth $382.52 million in the 2022 calendar year, making it as the 10th-largest consumer, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
China is the biggest destination of US soybean followed by Mexico and the European Union.
Bangladesh imported nearly 0.64-million tonnes of soybean in 2022, disclosed the data available with the USDA and the US Soybean Export Council (USSEC).
Over the past five years, Bangladesh has brought home 1.17-million tonnes of soybean on average every year.
Trailing behind the US and Argentina, Brazil is currently the largest soybean supplier to the Bangladesh market.
Bangladesh has stood out attractive as it has become the 10th-largest market in terms of global demand, USSEC regional director Kevin Roepke told the FE.
He was talking to The Financial Express on the sidelines of a two-day conference on "CrushCon and HungerCon" in Dubai on Thursday.
The country's total import of soybean is expected to rise to 2.7-million tonnes in fiscal year (FY) 2023-24 from 2.1-million tonnes in FY2023, they added.
City Group manager Saniat Islam said they have made an initiative to ensure sustainability in food production in Bangladesh with sourcing some high-quality oil seeds like soybean from the USA.
Izabil Nakib, production manager at Meghna Group, said, "Over the last five years, our import from the US has enlarged to 40 per cent of our total consumption from 30 per cent at our crushing plant."
"We're utilising the US soybean due its better quality than others," he added.
Meanwhile, Policy Exchange Bangladesh chairman Masrur Reaz said Bangladesh's food-processing industry was still in the starting point, but its demand was expected to reach $6.0 billion by 2030.
"More reforms for developing the agri-processing industry and its trade facilitation is imperative now," he told the FE.
For quality food production and sustainability of the domestic agri- and food-processing industry, Mr Masrur suggested that Bangladesh collaborate with high-tech countries like the USA.
As long as US soybean was one of the best ingredients for food production, it could help diversify the food-processing industry in Bangladesh, he said.
In a discussion in the conference, Delta Group managing director Amirul Haque on Thursday said Bangladesh was working to improve quality processed food production.
The high-quality US raw materials like soybean are really helpful for upgrading Bangladesh's food production, he added.
Soybean is the major raw material for cooking oil as well as poultry, fish and livestock feed.
Meanwhile, the USSEC awarded the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) for its role in adapting and promoting modern agricultural technology.
BARI director (research) Dr Abdullah Yousuf Akhond received the award.
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