The blue bars show Canada's monthly soybean exports for the 2016-17 through 2019-20 crop years, as measured against the primary vertical axis. The black line with markers shows the percent of monthly exports shipped to China, plotted against the secondary vertical axis. (DTN graphic by Cliff Jamieson)

While one month does not make a trend, Statistics Canada's November merchandise trade report made a note of Canada's November soybean exports in its written commentary that bears watching.

Throughout 2019, Soy Canada has warned of the challenges of diversifying exports following a sharp decline in exports to China in the month of January. Statistics Canada reports 1.4 million metric tons shipped to China in November 2018, falling to 718,115 metric tons in December and only 648 mt in January.

On Tuesday, Statistics Canada reported 837,107 mt of soybeans exported in November, the largest volume shipped in the 11 months reported for 2019. The volume shipped to China was reported at 1,717 mt, the fourth-lowest monthly volume shipped to this market in the 11 months of 2019. This accounts for 0.2% of the monthly volume exported, the lowest percentage calculated for any given month over the time period shown on the attached chart, from 2016-17 through 2019-20.

In November 2018, Canada exported a record 1.518 mmt. As can be seen on the attached chart, monthly exports in excess of 1 million metric tons are not common and seen in the three months shown on the chart. Nov. 2018, Nov. 2017 and Nov. 2016, are the only three months to ever exceed 1 mmt.