Articles By Regina Koh
China imported 6% less soybeans from the United States in 2024 amid ongoing trade tensions with the North American country and the availability of competitively priced South American soybeans, but Chinese imports still grew by 7% last year.
Chinese state agencies held an auction for imported soybeans from the country’s reserves on Friday January 17, where 46,109 tonnes of soybeans were sold, sources told Fastmarkets.
Chinese state agencies will hold the first auction for imported soybeans of the year on January 17, when approximately 46,000 tonnes of soybeans from the country’s reserves will be offered for sale, according to a notice issued by the National Grain Trade Centre (NGTC) late on Wednesday January 15.
Taiwanese feed buying group MFIG concluded its tender for around 65,000 tonnes of corn for March-April shipment on Wednesday January 15, picking up one consignment from trading house Cargill, sources have told Fastmarkets.
China’s soybean crush volume in the week to Friday January 10 rose from the previous week to 1.93 million tonnes, according to figures from the China National Grains and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC).
Malaysia’s crude palm oil (CPO) production in 2025 is expected to reach 19.5 million tonnes, a 0.8% increase from 2024’s 19.34 million tonnes, a senior official at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said at an industry event on Tuesday January 14.
China’s total soybean imports reached a record 105 million tonnes in 2024, 6.5%, or 6.42 million tonnes higher than the 98.6 million tonnes reached in 2023, according to data released by the country’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) on Monday January 13.
China’s agriculture outlook committee (CAOC) has raised its estimates for the country’s corn production and lowered corn imports for 2024/25 in the latest Chinese Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (Casde) report released Friday January 10.
Indonesia has tightened its export rules for used cooking oil (UCO) and palm oil residue, namely palm oil mill effluent (POME), high acid palm oil residue (HAPOR) and empty fruit bunch (EFB) oil, amid concerns of fraudulent activity and to safeguard sufficient supply for its local cooking oil and biodiesel sectors.
South Korean feed buyers bought more corn and feed wheat in private deals late in the evening on Wednesday January 8.
South Korean feed importer Nonghyup Feed Inc (NOFI) has purchased around 140,000 tonnes of corn and 65,000 tonnes of feed wheat for April arrival in tenders that concluded on Wednesday January 8, market sources have told Fastmarkets.
China’s combined stocks of its major vegoils soybean oil, palm oil and rapeseed oil fell in the week to Friday January 3, with the drop in soybean and palm oil stocks outweighing an increase in rapeseed oil volumes, according to data from the China National Grain and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC).
China’s soybean crush volume fell to 1.73 million tonnes in the week to Friday January 3, down by 350,000 tonnes from 2.08 million tonnes a week earlier, according to data from the China National Grains and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC).
The USDA attaché in Malaysia has estimated a drop in both Malaysia’s palm oil production and exports in the 2024/25 marketing year, citing weather related challenges and palm’s premium relative to alternative oils affecting export demand, according to a report released late in the previous week.
China’s combined inventories of three major vegoils – soybean oil, palm oil and rapeseed oil – rose marginally in the week to Friday December 27, according to figures from the country's National Grain and Oils Information Center (CNGOIC)
Policy shifts will likely dominate palm oil price movements in 2025 even more so than in 2024, as a pair of legislative changes are expected from Indonesia and from the US, while supply and demand are expected to maintain a similar dynamic in 2025 as they did in 2024.
The Indonesian government has set its crude palm oil (CPO) reference price for January 2025 at $1,059.54 per tonne, according to a trade ministry notice issued on Tuesday December 31.
Chinese crushers processed a total of 2.08 million tonnes of soybeans in the week to Friday December 27, an increase of 210,000 tonnes from the previous week’s 1.87 million tonnes, according to figures from the China National Grain and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC).
Chinese state agencies conducted an auction for imported soybeans on Friday December 27, where 41,172 tonnes of soybeans were sold, sources told Fastmarkets.
China’s inventories of three major vegoils — soybean oil, palm oil and rapeseed oil — collectively fell to 1.9 million tonnes in the week to Friday December 20, 20,000 tonnes lower than the previous week’s 1.92 million tonnes, with declines in soybean and palm oil stocks, according to figures from the China National Grain and Oils and Information Centre (CNGOIC).