Browse Data and Analysis

A number of factors have converged over the last 18 months to send global agricultural commodity prices to near-record levels. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and the potential loss of Ukrainian exports – was the latest development to push commodity prices higher.

In the first quarter of 2021, U.S. soybean exports reached the second-highest value ever at $7.7 billion, nearly double the same period last year.

South Asia, which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, accounts for 24 percent of the world’s population, with 1.84 billion people in 2019.

While trade tensions and China’s retaliatory tariffs slashed U.S. agricultural exports to China in 2018 and 2019,

Taiwan is an important trading partner and offers many opportunities for sales of U.S. food and agricultural products.

There is an array of opportunities for U.S. agricultural exporters in Japan, though its unique culture and regulatory environment present challenges.

At a combined $23.8 billion, China and Hong Kong represent 18 percent of U.S. agricultural exports to the world, up from 10 percent just a decade ago.

Over the past decade, the United States' agricultural exports to China have risen sharply, propelling China into its position as the fastest-growing and highest-value export destination...

U.S. agricultural exports to Southeast Asia have experienced extremely rapid growth in recent years and, in FY 2014, they climbed to a record $11.5 billion – up 11 percent from FY 2013.

In recent years, India’s exports have demonstrated phenomenal growth – especially to developing countries, which now account for nearly 80 percent of Indian exports.

While EU demand for imported soybeans has fallen, the U.S. industry adjusted to meet rising demand elsewhere in the world.

A rapidly growing middle class in North Asia is expected to boost demand for U.S. agricultural exports over the next decade.