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Abstract
The tremendous expansion of the Brazilian soybean complex is not only caused by the transfer of the American soybean model (consumption and production model) by multinational firms. Neither is it a simple case of a «green revolution» success. The Brazilian complex results from a research effort, a response of the wheat and coffee producers and an «agri-business» mobilization helped and protected by the State. This complex produces an original model which although partially «dependant» is however definitively national. Cultivated on 8 millions of hectares, soybean is a capital-intensive crop, locally processed by a competitive crushing industry. Brazil is becoming a strong competiter of the United States on the international market of soybean meal and oil. The limit of the soybean model is its selective character — only 20 % of the producers receive credits and assistance— which creates a new desequilibrium between regions and products. The substitution between soybean and others crops leads to a certain food shortages. The constitution of the soybean complex is linked to the rise of Brazil on the international scene. Its arrival has created a new situation on the international soybean market where the oligopolistic structure has been destabilized.