• Bloomberg reported that futures prices for soybean and canola meal in China have been surging as the Chinese eat more chicken and duck, driving demand for poultry feed. Consumers in China are looking for alternative sources of meat protein as the African swine fever affects hogs. Bloomberg quoted an industry expert as saying that China’s demand for poultry feed is expected to increase by 20% this year. This coupled with the growth in fish farming are envisaged to compensate for the fall in demand for meal from the hog industry.

• Bloomberg also reported that planting progress of corn and soybean in the USA continues to disappoint as a result of the heavy rains in the Midwest. According to the USDA, corn planting in the US was 67% completed as at two Sundays ago compared with 96% at the same time last year. Soybean plantings were only 39% completed vs. market expectations of 42%. Currently, the USDA forecasts planted areas of 92.8mil acres for corn and 84.6mil acres for soybean in the US in 2019F/2020F.

• Reuters reported that China has agreed to take palm oil worth nearly US$150mil from Malaysia in a barter deal. Malaysia will export US$144.9mil worth of palm oil, representing about 200,000 tonnes to China. In return, Malaysia will receive construction services, natural resources products and civil and defence equipment from China.

• Reuters also reported that Total, the French oil and gas company, is set to commission a biodiesel refinery using palm oil. The refinery in southern France will start production in two weeks. The commissioning of the biodiesel plant has been delayed a few times due to opposition from the farmers. The biodiesel plant has a production capacity of 500,000 tonnes per year. Total has committed to using less than 300,000 tonnes of CPO per year at the biodiesel plant. The rest of the feedstock will consist of oils coming from other plants and recycled fats.

• Bloomberg said that China plans to store cargoes of American soybeans bought earlier this year that have yet to be delivered. The soybeans will be sent to boost state stockpiles instead of being processed. According to the USDA, China has yet to receive 6.9mil tonnes of US soybeans. China purchased the soybeans from December 2018 to March 2019 during a temporary truce on the trade war with the US. After trade war talks soured, China has turned to supplies from South America.

• Xinhua reported that China’s soybean and pork imports from the USA have declined sharply due to the trade war while those from other countries have been growing. The Ministry of Commerce said that pork imports from the US fell by 53.6% YoY in 4M2019 while pork imports from Spain, Canada and the United Kingdom rose by more than 10%. China’s soybean imports from the US declined by 70% YoY in 4M2019 while those from Brazil jumped by 46.8%.

Source: AmInvest Research - 10 Jun 2019

Plantation Sector - News flow for week 3 – 7 June

Plantation Sector - News flow for week 3 – 7 June

Plantation Sector - News flow for week 3 – 7 June