Soybeans and wheat led U.S. agricultural exports to Southeast Asia in 2023

Pie chart showing values of U.S. agricultural exports to Southeast Asia in 2023.

Southeast Asia is the third largest regional market for U.S. agricultural exports, behind North America and East Asia. In 2023, U.S. agricultural exports to Southeast Asia totaled about $12.9 billion, with soybean products, wheat, cotton, and distillers’ grains making up more than half. Soybeans and their products are the largest commodity group the United States exports to Southeast Asia. In 2023, U.S. soybeans and soybean meal, flour, oil, and seed exports totaled $3.8 billion. Wheat was the second largest U.S. agricultural export to Southeast Asia in 2023 at $1.3 billion. Cotton and distillers’ dried grains (referred to as DDGS) were the third and fourth largest exports, with 2023 exports valued at $1.1 billion and $0.8 billion, respectively. The value of U.S. skim milk powder exports to the region fell to $0.7 billion in 2023 after rising from $0.4 billion in 2018 to $1.1 billion in 2022, the fastest growing U.S. agricultural export to Southeast Asia at that time. U.S. exports of miscellaneous food preparations and poultry were valued at $0.5 billion and $0.3 billion in 2023. Lastly, U.S. flours, meals, and pellets of meat and meat offal exports were valued at $0.3 billion. Numerous other products, including animal feed preparations, frozen potatoes, beef, nuts, and fruits, accounted for $4.0 billion worth of exports. This chart is drawn from the USDA, Economic Research Service report U.S. Agricultural Exports in Southeast Asia, published in August 2024, and has been updated with recent data.


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