The palm oil stock this week fall back. As of this Friday the price spread between palm oil and soybean oil expands to 1,165 yuan/tonne and the palm oil delivery turns better due to the recent consumption of palm oil and the relatively empty stock in middle channels. Therefore palm oil stock this week goes down a bit compared with last week. However, the market has stayed weak since last week and the temperature in the north is at low level so the demand for spots is not much. Given the import volume is still more than demand, palm oil stocks are predicted to increase yet with limited range.

      Fig.: China's palm oil stocks in recent years

      II. Goods Arrivals

      According to the latest statistics by Cofeed, the estimate of import volume for February this week keep flat with last week to settle at 450,000-480,000 tonnes (24-degree palm oil 330,000 tonnes and industrial palm oil 120,000-150,000 tonnes), and the estimate for March this week remains basically unchanged at 340,000-390,000 tonnes (24-degree 220,000-260,000 tonnes and  industrial palm oil 120,000-130,000 tonnes). The estimate of import volume for April is 420,000 tonnes (24-degree palm oil 300,000 tonnes and industrial palm oil 120,000 tonnes).