An Assessment of Soybean Imports from the United States by Japan

This paper estimates the implicit prices of the physical and intrinsic characteristics of soybeans exported by the United States. It provides a couple of basic pieces of information. First, the U.S. grades and standards assigned to a shipment do provide information valued by the market. Second, in Japan there are two identifiable soybean markets - a premium food bean market and a crushing market. The soybeans going into the food market for processing can be identified by their lower oil content, lower percentage of split and damaged beans, and a lower amount of foreign material. as well as smaller shipment sizes. The soybeans which have characteristics which satisfy those demanded in the food bean market are bid into that market.