Sanitary crackdown slows Brazil soybean flow to China at peak export season

Documentation and inspection changes disrupt soybean flows to China as exporters navigate stricter phytosanitary controls.

CUIABÁ, Brazil — On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Cargill halted soybean purchasing in Brazil and its exports of those products to China due to stricter sanitary regulations that limit contamination from pests and weeds.

March is the peak of Brazil’s soybean exports out of the Port of Santos — with China’s largest supplier being Brazil.

Cargill confirmed the halt on Wednesday after Brazilian exporters went no bid on soybeans, leaving commodity traders confused.

Farmers in Minas, Brazil, on X reported Cargill was out of the market this past Monday and that ADM was buying more without much effort. The purge still continued into today, confirmed by Cleiton Gauer, superintendent of the Institute for Mato Grosso Agricultural Economics — a research group supported by commodity organizations.

“It’s not a farm problem, it’s a trading problem,” he said.

The ministry said the stricter sampling and inspection procedures — including government-run analysis instead of relying solely on standard trade sampling systems — came at the request and complaint of China. China has historically been specific about pesticide-treated wheat contamination.

The ministry placed the blame on Cargill in comments to local media, which claimed it was not an unwarned change in procedures and that the government would not change its sanitation system.

Farmers who regularly speak with Gauer say they have 0 percent impurities, but their product is mixed with others with 1 percent impurity at the port, which “contaminate the whole, with other people’s products,” Gauer said.

“It’s not a new [quality] requirement — it is just to fulfill contract requirements,” he said, adding that they seem to be implemented with more specific metrics now. There are eight carriers are currently en route to China without the right documentation from Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, he spoke of.

On Thursday, at Mato Grosso’s soybean and maize association headquarters, Aprosoja officials confirmed the ongoing halt and said they were seeking answers from the Brazilian government, but have not formally made a statement on the matter.

Thirty percent of the soybean market in Brazil is held by Olam, Cargill, and ADM together in 2024, Reuters reports.

Brazilian sanitary authorities usually inspect shipments at ports for the presence of grass or other vegetation that could be classified as pests. Following the inspection, officials may issue a certificate clearing vessels to enter the Chinese market.

It’s not a new conflict. In January 2025, China suspended soy imports from five Brazilian companies between January 8 and 14, 2025. The companies included units of Cargill, ADM, Olam, Terra Roxa, and C. Vale, due to the detection of pests and pesticide residues.

The next steps will occur when ships of soybeans arrive in China. “They may need to change their route and change the final destination…China will not accept the carrier without this documentation,” Gauer said.

Traders say the operational impact was unexpected. However, Gauer noted the government has internally warned the trading companies a long time ago they had these issues and that they must present alternative plans, or disruptions would occur.

Speculation among traders suggests the pause may be linked to Brazil’s large soybean supply during harvest, rising freight costs and an effort to rebalance trade flows ahead of an early April meeting between President Trump and President Xi, while also easing pricing pressure amid logistics disruptions tied to the Middle East crisis.

Bottleneck concerns have led to some analysis suggesting demand may shift toward the U.S., published in a Bloomberg article this week.

Jake Zajkowski is a freelance agriculture journalist covering farm policy, global food systems and the rural Midwest. Raised on vegetable farms in northern Ohio, he now studies at Cornell University.

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