Chinese Import of Oils and Fats Down Sharply in Q1

Chinese import of 17 oils and fats in the first quarter of this year plunged 56.6% to 1.515 million MT from 3.491 million MT in a similar period year-ago, according to data from Oil World.  “Covid-related lockdowns in Shanghai and several other cities as well as slowdown of economic activity and record-high prices on the world market contributed to a significant reduction in imports,”, Oil World wrote.

Data showed imports of all oils and fats but coconut oil dropped materially during the three-month period to March.  Import of coconut oil spiked 50% to 51,000 MT from 34,000 MT.   On the other hand, major imports such as palm oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, and palm kernel oil showed sharp contractions by 60.6%, 58.8%, 58.1% and 23.6%, respectively.  Palm oil fell to 603,000 MT from 1.530 million MT, rapeseed oil to 286,000 MT from 694,000 MT, sunflower oil to 210,000 MT from 501,000 MT and palm kernel oil to 113,000 MT from 148,000 MT.

Total import for the month of March likewise tumbled steeply by 51.7% to 486,000 MT from 1.006 million MT last year, with all products but coconut oil recording huge shortfalls.  Import of coconut oil leaped 46.7% to 22,000 MT from 15,000 MT.  On the other hand, palm oil showed a 45.4% reduction at 227,000 MT from 416,000 MT; rapeseed oil by 65.1% at 87,000 MT from 249,000 MT; sunflower oil by 64.5% at 49,000 MT from 138,000 MT; and palm kernel oil by 63.5% at 19,000 MT from 52,000 MT.