Soybean Meal Production Cost Analysis 2026

What does it cost to make a tonne of soybean meal?

Douglas Insights prices 30 inputs for a tonne of soybean meal in 5 countries from 22 documents: 1 raw materials, 0 packaging materials, the utility tariffs and the production wage, each with its publisher and year. The report multiplies them by the consumption per tonne, balanced across 5 process steps, and gives the direct cash cost of a tonne in every country.

Direct cash cost means raw materials, packaging, energy and water, and the crew on the line: what a soybean meal producer pays for each tonne before capital, maintenance, overhead and financing. Those belong to the plant project report; this page and this report stop at the tonne. The reference plant is 250,000 t/y at steady state; base period calendar year 2022–2026.

South Africa (traded price not yet sourced): not yet published. A country is dropped rather than priced with a proxy.

Which process route is soybean meal costed on?

A soybean meal line runs 5 process steps, from soybean receiving, cleaning and drying to meal desolventizing-toasting, drying, cooling and grinding; each is a unit operation from a published process norm, and the report carries the yield and loss of every step so the inputs per tonne of finished product close.

1. Soybean receiving, cleaning and drying. Source: US EPA.
2. Cracking and dehulling (hull aspiration). Source: US EPA.
3. Conditioning and flaking. Source: US EPA.
4. Hexane solvent extraction (countercurrent extractor), soybean meal line. Source: National Oilseed Processors Association.
5. Meal desolventizing-toasting, drying, cooling and grinding. Source: US EPA.

What do the raw materials for soybean meal cost in each country?

1 raw materials for soybean meal are priced in each of the 5 countries: soya beans. Prices are customs unit values and producer prices for the year shown, in US dollars per tonne. Soya beans shows the widest spread, from USD 435 a tonne in Brazil to USD 502 in China.

Sources: UN Comtrade. Consumption per tonne, the cost each material adds and the material balance are in the report.

What do the co-products of soybean meal sell for?

The route of soybean meal also yields crude soya-bean oil co-product (hs 150710). The report credits each co-product at its own traded price in the same country, so the cost of a tonne of soybean meal carries only its share of the feedstock; the yield of each co-product per tonne is in the report.

What do energy and water cost a soybean meal line in each country?

3 utilities are priced on the soybean meal route: electricity, industrial, natural gas, industrial and water, industrial. Tariffs are industrial, all-in and exclude value-added tax (VAT), each shown with its year. Electricity runs from USD 0.080 a kilowatt-hour (kWh) in Saudi Arabia to USD 0.218 in Germany, the widest gap of any utility input.

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Agency, San Antonio Water System (SAWS), Eurostat, Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen, State Grid Henan Electric Power Company via Pingdingshan …, Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Shanghai Pudong New Area Development and Reform Commission, Empresa de Pesquisa Energetica (EPE), Brazil, ES Gas Distribuidora de Gas Natural, per ARSP (Espirito S…, URAE-1 / Government of Sao Paulo State, Marafiq (Power and Water Utility Company for Jubail and Y… and S&P Global Commodity Insights. Consumption per tonne of product is in the report.

What does labour cost on a soybean meal line in each country?

The production operator wage runs from USD 5,339 a year in Brazil to USD 44,170 in the United States, base wages from the statistics office of each country before employer on-costs; the crew per shift is sized from the process norms (US EPA, National Oilseed Processors Association) and stated in the report. Wages enter the cost of a tonne of soybean meal through that crew on every shift.

Where are the inputs for soybean meal cheapest?

Inputs for soybean meal are cheapest in different countries: soya beans (hs 120190) is cheapest in Brazil at USD 435 a tonne; electricity is cheapest in Saudi Arabia at USD 0.080 a kWh; the lowest operator wage is in Brazil. No single input decides the cost of a tonne of soybean meal: the report weighs every input by its consumption and ranks the countries on the direct cash cost.

What is the traded price of soybean meal in each country?

Douglas Insights records the traded price of soybean meal between USD 419 a tonne in Brazil and USD 488 a tonne in China across 5 lead countries. That customs unit value is the ex-works proxy against which the report measures the direct cost of a tonne in each country.

Prices are customs unit values from UN Comtrade and producer prices where a production survey publishes them, such as Eurostat Production Communautaire (PRODCOM); one rule per country, stated in the report and not changed to move a result. Monthly price series are in the Douglas Insights price pages.

What moves the cost of a tonne of soybean meal?

Raw materials net of the co-product credit weigh more than three fifths of the direct cost of a tonne of soybean meal in United States, so the price of the main feedstock moves the cost more than any tariff or wage; the report moves the main feedstock, energy and the exchange rate by ten percent each and shows the cost of a tonne in every country under each.

• Raw materials net of the co-product credit: more than three fifths of the direct cost in United States.
• Packaging: under a twentieth of the direct cost in United States.
• Utilities: under a twentieth of the direct cost in United States.
• Direct labour: under a twentieth of the direct cost in United States.

What limits a production cost figure for soybean meal?

Three things limit a production cost figure for soybean meal: the traded price is a customs unit value, not a contract price; input years differ (calendar year 2022–2026) and a price moves with its market; and consumption per tonne comes from published norms rather than one plant's meters. The report states each limit beside the figure it affects.

Douglas Exclusive: the soybean meal feedstock ledger

Douglas Insights counts 22 documents behind the 30 inputs on this page. The feedstock ledger in the report lists every input with its publisher, document, code and year, so a buyer can put the same figure in front of a supplier.

Methodology: how is the soybean meal production cost built?

Four stages build the soybean meal production cost report: the process route and material balance from published norms (5 steps); input prices from customs and production statistics, tariff schedules and statistics offices (30 inputs, 22 documents, 5 countries); the direct cash cost of a tonne as consumption times price, with labour over steady-state output; and the check of each country against its traded price, where a cost far above the price holds the country until the input is re-checked.

Nothing is typed: every figure traces to a document, and the Douglas Insights research methodology explains how the Research Desk reviews each edition. Capital cost, financing and returns for the same line are in the manufacturing plant project report.

Market reports, plant reports and price pages for the same chain sit in the Douglas Insights industry hub; the production cost hub collects every production cost report.