The trade has heavily focused on soybean exports in recent weeks but may be overlooking where the most potential for the entire soy complex could come from — a rise in crush and export demand of soymeal. 

Argentina has long been the world’s leading soybean crusher and exporter of soymeal. Many countries source the majority of their soymeal from Argentina, including China. Argentina has recently started to see economic issues, though, which has impacted the country’s crush industry. Some of Argentina’s largest crushers have slowed operations in recent months, with some suspending operations. As a result, buyers of Argentine soymeal have to look elsewhere for coverage and are starting to source needs from the United States. 

Not only is Argentine meal becoming hard to secure, but the price is considerably higher than usual. Typically, a buyer can source soymeal from Argentina at a discount to the U.S. In recent weeks, we have seen this shift, though,...