Cofeed News: till January 26th this week, edible palm oil at China’s ports has shrunk to 659,200 tonnes from last week’s 661,200 tonnes by 0.3% in stocks, but notably the figure is 12.1% higher than 588,300 tonnes the same week in last month with an increase of 70,900 tonnes; while stocks of industrial palm oil have accumulated 85,000 tonnes from 78,400 tonnes last week, with an increase of 6,600 tonnes by 8.4%. Generally, domestic stocks of palm oil this week are a tad lower when compared with last week’s. Blending of palm oil nationwide is falling significantly on account of lower temperatures though price gap between soybean oil and palm oil is still unreasonable. As of January 26th, price gap settles at 428 yuan/tonne, and January import of palm oil of 24-degree melting point till this week totals 0.28-0.30 Mln tonnes and indeed, China’s buyers are projected to buy in 18 vessels of palm oil for February and March delivery for profitable margins in imports. All in all, domestic stocks of palm oil will probably rise when small-packing stockpiles draw to an end.

                        Figure: Comparison of domestic palm oil stocks in recent years

    Imports of palm oil are estimated to be around 0.40-0.45 Mln tonnes for January import in 2018 (0.28-0.33 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil, 0.12 Mln tonnes of industrial palm oil); about 0.27-0.32 Mln tonnes for February import in 2018 (0.17-0.20 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil, 0.10-0.12 Mln tonnes of industrial palm oil), both remaining unchanged when compared with estimates last week; roughly 0.37 Mln tonnes for March import (0.25 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil, 0.12 Mln tonnes of industrial palm oil). Arrivals of palm oil may change with the market and shipping schedule, therefore information will be updated according to latest shipments and possible defaults.