Cofeed News: till May 11th this week, edible palm oil at China’s ports totals 653,000 tonnes, decreasing by 45,800 from 698,800 tonnes last week, and vis-a-vis the same week of last month, it is also 6.2% or 43,300 tonnes lower than 696,300 tonnes. Stocks of industrial palm oil otherwise come into at 86,200 tonnes, a rise of 16.8% or 12,400 tonnes from 73,800 tonnes on the week.

   Stockpiles of palm oil this week trend down further due to not many arrivals. According to Cofeed, shipments of palm oil in May and June are under way attributed to import margins, to be specific, around 0.30-0.33 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil are expected in May, higher than April’s imports, and around 0.27 Mln tonnes expected in June. Till Friday, price gap between soybean oil and palm oil domestically is further narrowed at 585 yuan/tonne, and seemingly, total traded volumes are not satisfactory factored in buyers’ little involvement in market. Total traded volumes of palm oil this week are merely around 6,750 tonnes, though higher than 6,200 tonnes attained last week. By and large, stockpiles later will largely trend up in late May seeing overwhelming imports.

                        Figure: Comparison of domestic palm oil stocks in recent years

    Imports of palm oil are estimated to be around 0.38 Mln tonnes for April delivery (0.25 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil, 0.13 Mln tonnes of industrial palm oil); around 0.43 Mln tonnes for May delivery (0.30-0.33 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil, 0.10-0.13 Mln tonnes of industrial palm oil); approximately 0.40 Mln tonnes for June delivery (0.27 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil, 0.13 Mln tonnes of industrial palm oil), all unchanged from last estimates. Arrivals of palm oil may change with the market and shipping schedule, therefore information will be updated according to latest shipments and possible defaults.