China introduced the world to soybeans about 5,000
years ago. Now, farmers half a world away in
Ontario are planning to sell their soybeans back to
the Chinese. 
Some Ontario soybeans are already dribbling into
China, reports Fred Brandenburg, manager of the
Ontario soybean marketing board. Brandenburg has
just returned from a tour of China as part of an
international delegation. 
Hong Kong is a key buyer of Ontario food-quality
soybeans, Brandenburg explains. The British colony,
soon to be re-united with China, buys about a
million bushels a year, and sales are steadily
climbing. 
Some Hong Kong processors are setting up shop in a
free-trade zone tucked inside China's borders,
where they can use cheaper Chinese labour to cook
the Ontario soybeans into tofu and soymilk. 
But that's just a taste of the sales to come,
Brandenburg believes. "There are huge opportunities
for oilseeds in China." 
In most Asian markets, China and Canada are
head-to-head competitors. The Chinese crop is lower
in oil than other soybeans, so the country imports
crush soybeans from the U.S. and South America to
feed its oil processing plants. At the same time,
China exports much of its own crop into food
markets in countries including Japan and Malaysia,
where protein levels and sugar content are more
important than oil. 
Brandenburg sees China boosting its soybean oil
quality with the help of international research
teams that are churning out new varieties. The
country is boosting its consumption of pork and
poultry as well, so it will have greater domestic
need for meal, a factor that may tilt the balance
in favour of keeping more beans at home and out of
the export market. 
China's crush capacity is also growing by leaps and
bounds. The major oilseed processing plant in
Shanghai, a city of 11.2 million, was built in the
1930s and crushes 250 tonnes a day, all of it in
jute bags handled by a workforce of 400. 
Ontario plants, by contrast, crush 1,500 tonnes a
day with fewer than 100 employees. New plants are
being built in China, however, and total Chinese
oil consumption is forecast to explode. 
The Chinese are also boosting their consumption of
soy foods, such as tofu. Per-capita soy consumption
in China is seven kilograms per year, while in
Taiwan, consumption is 13 kilograms. If China
boosted its consumption to Taiwan's rate, it would
create a new market for 200 million bushels of
soybeans. 
With their rapidly growing incomes and booming
economy, the Chinese are boosting their soy
purchases, Brandenburg says. "We'll be selling
food-quality soybeans to China, I'm very confident
about that." -TB

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