Cargill halts Brazil soybean exports to China after inspection rule change

Cargill has suspended soybean exports from Brazil to China following changes in phytosanitary inspection procedures introduced by the Brazilian government, the company’s top executive in the country said on Wednesday.

Paulo Sousa, president of Cargill in Brazil and head of the company’s agricultural business in Latin America, said the move followed a request from Chinese authorities for stricter inspections of soybeans shipped to China.

According to Sousa, Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry implemented a more rigorous inspection system that is making it harder for traders to comply with the rules and obtain authorization to ship cargoes.

He said the new system is unusual for the grain trade.

As a result, Cargill — one of the largest exporters of Brazilian soybeans — has also halted purchases of the commodity in the domestic market because of the difficulties in shipping it to the world’s largest soybean importer.

“This is a major risk today for the flow of Brazilian soybean exports to China,” Sousa said on the sidelines of Argentina Week 2026, a conference organized by Bank of America in New York.

Sousa said the new inspection process differs from the standard market practice of using a representative sample. Instead, authorities are now conducting their own sampling.

“This is generating discrepancies… and because of these discrepancies, the phytosanitary certificates that accompany the cargo, which are issued by the ministry, in some cases are not being issued,” he said.

Without those certificates, vessels cannot discharge cargo in China. As a result, some ships originally bound for China may have to be diverted to other destinations, he added.

“If this is not resolved soon, shipments to China will come to a halt,” Sousa said, noting that Cargill suspended operations last Friday.

He said Agriculture Minister Carlos Fávaro is reviewing the situation with industry groups representing exporters and processors — Anec and Abiove — to reach an agreement on “the correct way to sample and classify soybeans.”

Posts on X (formerly Twitter) by grain brokers and Brazilian farmers on Wednesday indicated that traders had made very few bids to purchase soybeans in the domestic market.

China is by far the largest buyer of Brazilian soybeans, accounting for about 80% of the country’s exports of the oilseed. Brazil is the world’s largest producer and exporter of soybeans.

The following provides a historical overview of Brazilian soybean seaborne shipments to China, measured in Wet Metric Tons (WTMT), from January 2023 through January 2026:

Soybean Exports to China | Jan 2023 – Jan 2026 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Sousa said the new inspections began early last week. Discussions are ongoing, but so far no solution has been reached.

Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry did not respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.

In a statement on Wednesday, Anec, Brazil’s grain exporters association, said exporters are concerned about how they will adapt their operations to the new inspection system, particularly during Brazil’s peak soybean export season.

“Overall, the sector’s main concern remains soybeans and how the supply chain will be able to adapt to the new requirements over the medium term,” the association said. “Anec remains in dialogue with the Agriculture Ministry and is monitoring developments with the relevant authorities.”

Source: Folha de S.Paulo

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