'Big Opportunity' for Canadian Soybeans in U.S.-China Spat

Canada, a relatively modest participant in the global soybean market, is poised to leap into the fray with a chance to boost exports to China, which has shunned shipments from the U.S. amid an escalating trade war.

“There’s a big opportunity for Canadians to fill some of that void that we’re seeing in China," Joel Merkosky, co-president of Johnston’s Grain brokerage in Calgary, said in a telephone interview toBloomberg.

Argentina, the leading shipper of soybean meal, took the unusual step of buying the oilseed from the U.S. to meet domestic demand while shipping its own crop to China. That shift may also occur in North America.

Canada has exported 156,000 tons of soybeans since Aug. 1, more than double the same period a year earlier, the latest Canadian Grain Commission data shows.