Today (Feb. 3), the market for oilseeds and oils in China is shown as follows:

 

Cottonseed: Today, the cottonseed is not purchased and quoted, and only few cottonseed oil mills are operating so as to run down stocks. And the supply of cottonseed is limited on the market. However, the futures of oils and meals plunged after the Lunar New Year affected by panic mood amid the new coronavirus pneumonia. Therefore, cottonseed market is weighed down, and the price may drop further after trading resuming.

Summary: The spread of novel coronavirus outbreak in China could slow down its economic growth. Economists with Bloomberg expected the growth could decline to 4.5% in the fist quarter and affect that of other countries. US soybean prices were weighed down by a lower demand outlook for soybean imports in China. US soybean futures price ended sharply lower by 37 cents at 872,5 cents last Friday compared to that before the Lunar New Year holidays. BMD palm oil futures fell by 319 ringgit during the Lunar New Year holidays as the market was worried about the demand prospect amid diplomatic spat between India and Malaysia. The catering industry in China has suffered heavy losses on concerns over the novel conoravirus, which has then affected the demand for oils. Therefore, oil futures hit the limit down on trading resumed on the Dalian Commodity Exchange today. Most mills have not resumed operations under ongoing epidemic outbreaks, so there are few quotes available in the market. Soybean oil prices go down sby 360-550 yuan/tonne in the wake of futures, with light trading. The panic over coronavirus will keep weighing down oil prices the the near term, and the epidemic situation has severely influence the logistics and thus lift logistics and labour cost. The oil market is predicted to step on an uptrend with easing panic after this round of declines. Buyers can wait for low and stable prices to make appropriate replenishment.

Soybean oil: GB Grade I soybean oil is mainly priced at 6360-6630 yuan/tonne in domestic coastal areas. (Tianjin traders 6360; Rizhao traders 6450, down 550 yuan from that before the holiday; Zhangjiagang traders not offered; and Guangzhou traders 6600-6630). 

Palm oil: RBD palm olein is mainly priced at 6600-6630 yuan/tonne in coastal areas, down 360-430 yuan/tonne. (Tianjin traders 6120, down 430; Rizhao traders yet offered; Zhangjiagang traders yet offered; Guangzhou traders 6030-6080, down 360; and Xiamen yet offered). 

Imported rapeseed oil: The spread of novel coronavirus outbreak in China could slow down its economic growth. Economists with Bloomberg expected the growth could decline to 4.5% in the fist quarter and affect that of other countries. US soybean prices were weighed down by a lower demand outlook for soybean imports in China. US soybean futures price ended sharply lower by 37 cents at 872,5 cents last Friday compared to that before the Lunar New Year holidays. Meanwhile, BMD palm oil futures fell by 319 ringgit during the Lunar New Year holidays as the market was worried about the demand prospect amid diplomatic spat between India and Malaysia. And rapeseed oil futures also drop drastically on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange today. Buyers are waiting as no price is available in the market when most mills have resumed work amid the conoravirus outbreak. The catering industry has been severely hit as people choose to stay at home for the holiday amid the quick spread of the epidemic situation, so oil market also takes the downtrend. But mills now can only pick up goods in nearby regions and provinces as logistics also get interrupted, in addition that most of them have not resumed production, and rapeseed oil stocks have also stayed at a low level. Overall, rapeseed oil may see smaller declines in spot prices than in futures, and buyers can wait at the moment.

Cottonseed oil: Cottonseed oil is not offered today, and most enterprises have yet to resume the operation. As most enterprises have not returned to work yet on account of the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, the supply of cottonseed oil is very limited at the moment. But the downstream demand for cottonseed oil as blending oil is limited, and catering industry is under huge impact due to the panic mood brought by the new pneumonia epidemic, thereby affecting the demand for oils. Also, oils on Dalian Commodity Exchange today directly limit after the trading resuming. However, most mills have yet to resume operation amid the continuous epidemic, so the spot oils are mostly unquoted. And partial soybean oil and palm oil plummet by 360-550 yuan/tonne, which may drag down cottonseed oil market. Accordingly, all these factors are negative for cottonseed meal market. With the crush of cottonseed operating successively in the later period, cottonseed oil price is predicted to drop further.