China veg oil stocks edge down and rapeseed oil inventory growth offsets drop in palm oil

China’s combined stocks of its major vegetable oils soybean oil, palm oil and rapeseed oil dropped in the week to Friday January 17, with an increase in rapeseed oil stocks outweighing a drop in palm oil volume while soybean oil stocks stayed flat, according to data from the China National Grain and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC).

The combined inventories of the three vegoils totaled 1.85 million tonnes, down by 10,000 tonnes from 1.86 million tonnes a week earlier.

The figure is also down by 120,000 tonnes from 1.97 million tonnes in the same period a year ago.

Soybean oil stocks were estimated at 900,000 tonnes, flat week on week, with the level down by 50,000 tonnes from 950,000 tonnes a month earlier.

On a year-on-year basis, soybean oil stocks were up by 70,000 tonnes from the 830,000 tonnes recorded during the same period a year ago.

Meanwhile, palm oil stocks totaled 470,000 tonnes, down by 40,000 tonnes from 510,000 tonnes a week earlier.

The figure is also down by 60,000 tonnes from 410,000 tonnes a month ago.

Palm oil stocks totaled 470,000 tonnes, down by 320,000 tonnes from 790,000 tonnes a year earlier.

Meanwhile, rapeseed oil stocks rose by 20,000 tonnes on the week to reach 480,000 tonnes, with the level also 60,000 tonnes higher than 420,000 tonnes recorded in the previous month and 130,000 tonnes up on the 350,000 tonnes seen a year ago.

Chinese soybean oil futures are expected to strengthen in the first calendar quarter on slow harvesting amid persisting dry spell in southern Brazil and Argentina as domestic soybean oil stocks draw down in near-term, according to CNGOIC.

Chinese soybean oil futures and soybean meal prices edged up while on the Dalian Commodity Exchange on Tuesday January 21.

The most-liquid May soybean oil contract rose by 1.0% on the day to 7,784 yuan ($1,063) per tonne, while the corresponding soybean meal contract increased 1.3% to 2,849 yuan per tonne.