When a soybean processing facility in Kershaw closed last spring, farmers had a surplus of the cash crop with nowhere to go.

The state Department of Agriculture partnered with the S.C. State Ports Authority and private stakeholders in the supply chain to develop export outlets around the world.

Through this collaboration, South Carolina farmers worked through the surplus to export more than 3 million bushels of soybeans from the Port of Charleston between May and August of this year.

The joint effort boosted exports at the state’s Inland Port Dillon facility, moving more than 2,800 export containers — a boost of 35 percent for the first two months of fiscal year 2026, which began July 1.

Most of the soybeans exported by the SPA go to Southeast Asia and are unaffected by trade tension

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