Organic protein prices are rising. In Baltimore, organic soybean meal prices are offered at $1,275 per short ton on a truck customs cleared. Merchandisers have told The Jacobsen that large size has traded at $1,200 per short ton in the same location.  Prices in Pennsylvania are offered $40 higher at $1,310. It appears that the market is going to be short product in Q2 and prices now reflect very little organic soybean meal coming in from India. The issue is not whether some Indian suppliers are offering organic soybean meal to clients, is whether they can get the organic soybean meal to the U.S. Exporters from India are also having a difficult time getting the product to Europe.

Organic soybean meal in Europe, which is hard to come by, is trading near 1000-euros per metric ton. Organic soybean oil is trading near $1,300 per metric ton picked up at the crusher in western Europe. Sources in India tell The Jacobsen that approximately 280 organic coop-groups have lost their organic credentials as a part of the ongoing investigation by APEDA. This scenario cannot be good news as Indian soybean prices hit record highs at $760 per metric ton. The Asian market is getting a respite from the upward surge seen in U.S. soybeans listed on the board. Another leg higher will have a knock-on impact pushing Asian soybean prices even higher.

The Jacobsen see prices continuing to rise. Our forecast for the mid-west has prices even higher than current levels. Imports are now expected to be only a fraction of what they were in 2020 in Q2. For reference, more than 75K metric tons of organic soybean meal were imported into the U.S. in Q2 of 2020. By The end of April, the market should have a good idea of what should be available in Q3.