Cofeed News: till May 25th this week, edible palm oil at China’s ports is pegged at 635,000 tonnes, further down 15,000 from 650,000 tonnes last week, and 7.1% or 48,300 tonnes lower than 683,300 tonnes vis-a-vis the same week of last month. Stocks of industrial palm oil stand at 88,400 tonnes, down 500 tonnes by 0.6% from 88,900 tonnes attained last week.

    Stockpiles of palm oil this week further edge down due to delayed shipments. And as Chinese buyers engage themselves in palm oil buying seeing lucrative import margins, import outlook is promising. Notably, about 10 vessels of palm oil have been bought this week, to be specific, imports of palm oil are forecast to be 0.43 Mln tonnes in June (about 0.3 Mln tonnes for 24-degree palm oil and 0.13 Mln tonnes for industrial palm oil). Till Friday, price gap between soybean oil and palm oil stands at 555 yuan/tonne, and with declining global crude oils and languishing exports of Malaysian palm oil, palm oil on BMD (Bursa Malaysia Derivatives) is no doubt weighed on. Additionally, oils futures on DCE (Dalian Commodity Exchange) this week also move downward for China is said to import US soybeans after the eased trade tensions. That finally pales buying interest of buyers in the midstream and downstream, then leading to a sluggish turnover this week. Total traded volumes this week merely amount to 1,500 tonnes, far below last week’s 3,600 tonnes. By and large, stockpiles later will largely trend up provided if imports overwhelmingly dwarf demand.

                            Figure: Comparison of domestic palm oil stocks in recent years

    Owing to delayed shipments, imports of palm oil are estimated to be around 0.38-0.39 Mln tonnes for May delivery (0.25-0.26 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil, 0.13 Mln tonnes of industrial palm oil); 0.03-0.04 Mln tonnes lower than last estimates; around 0.43 Mln tonnes for June delivery (0.30 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil, 0.13 Mln tonnes of industrial palm oil), unchanged from last estimates; approximately 0.44 Mln tonnes for July delivery (0.31 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil, 0.13 Mln tonnes of industrial palm oil); nearly 0.47 Mln tonnes for August delivery (0.34 Mln tonnes of 24-degree palm oil, 0.13 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.