Cofeed News: till March 2nd this week, edible palm oil at China’s ports has been shrived from 677,400 tonnes last week to 667,500 tonnes by 1.5% in stocks, but the figure is 5.6% higher than 631,800 tonnes on a year-on-year basis with an increase of 35,700 tonnes; besides, stocks of industrial palm oil increase from 71,700 tonnes to 93,700 tonnes on the week, with a rise of 22,000 tonnes by 30.7%. Actually, some dealers in middle channels put their hands to inventory replenishment upon bargain hunting for they basically run out of stocks after Chinese holidays, and with weather speculation going on, market players are fueled in confidence by soaring futures on CBOT, therefore sales of palm oil go better. Generally, domestic stocks of palm oil show a tad lower compared to last week’s. Though price gap between soybean oil and palm oil domestically is expanded to be around 498 yuan/tonne-- a figure still lower than normal level of 800 yuan/tonne, relatively cold weather in northern China and low consumption still subdue demand for palm oil spots. On this very note, domestic stocks of palm oil will gradually rise when imports far exceed demand when March imports of palm oil of 24-degree melting point are probably around 0.25-0.3 Mln tonnes.

                           Figure: Comparison of domestic palm oil stocks in recent years

    Imports of palm oil are estimated to be around 0.25-0.33 Mln tonnes for February import (0.15-0.21 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil, 0.10-0.12 Mln tonnes of industrial palm oil); roughly 0.38-0.4 Mln tonnes for March import (0.25-0.3 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil, 0.1-0.13 Mln tonnes of industrial palm oil), basically unchanged from estimates last week. Arrivals of palm oil may change with the market and shipping schedule, therefore information will be updated according to latest shipments and possible defaults.