According to Cofeed, in the week as of Jan 1, details of soybean oil inventories and outstanding contracts in main domestic regions are as follows:

This week (Dec 26, 2020-Jan 1, 2021), operation rates in soybean oil mills continue falling at a pace sharper than the forecast due to swollen meal inventories, especially in southern regions. Soybean crush at domestic mills totals 1,708,880 tonnes (meal 1,350,015 tonnes and oil 324,687 tonnes), down 173,200 tonnes or 9.2% from 1,882,080 tonnes last week. Meanwhile, operation rates (capacity utilization) are 48.81%, down 4.94% from 53.75% in the previous week. With easing meal stockpiles, soybean crush is expected to rise to around 1.83 mln tonnes next week and to nearly 2 mln tonnes in the following week.

Soybean oil stocks further reduce this week, as soybean crush fell more than the forecast. In the week ending Jan 1, China’s soybean oil commercial inventories total 958,350 tonnes, down 44,500 tonnes by 4.44% from 1,002,850 tonnes last week, and down 166,650 tonnes by 14.81% from 1,125,000 tonnes a month earlier.

Fig.: China’s Soybean Oil Stocks in Recent Years