China soyoil stocks at 6-month low as ASF dampens soybean crush

Soyoil stocks in China continued to fall for five straight weeks as of last Sunday, reaching their lowest level since late February this year, as soybean crush volume has been weak in recent weeks due to the ongoing African swine fever (ASF) epidemic.

The stock level fell more than 3% last week to 1.34 million mt, down 50,000 mt from the week before, reaching its lowest level in six months, data from China’s Grain and Oil Information Centre (CNGOIC) showed.

“The decline in soybean crushing led to a decrease in the output of soyoil. Plus the stock-up of packed oil continues before the arrival of the Mid-Autumn festival, procurement from trading houses accelerated,” CNGOIC said.

The soybean crush volume fell nearly 5% last week to 1.58 million mt, down 80,000 mt from previous week.

Despite lower crush, soybean stocks in China still dropped almost 8% to 6.6 million mt last week, down 550,000 mt from the week before, according to data from CNGOIC.

“The volume of soybean vessel landings was lower than the crush volume last week, causing soybean stocks at port to fall,” CNGOIC added.

Meanwhile, soymeal stocks retreated slightly to 870,000 mt last week, down 10,000 mt from previous week.

The impact of higher consumption of soymeal in aquaculture, poultry, pig industry was largely offset by the substitution of other vegmeals and the overall negative impact from African swine fever on soymeal demand, CNGOIC said.

The agency added that it expects soymeal stock levels to “keep fluctuating in the short term”.

China’s demand for soymeal in animal feed has been slashed by an outbreak of ASF since August last year

The epidemic is expected to reduce the volume of pigs in the world's largest pork-producing country by up to 50% this year.