• Bloomberg reported that Indonesia’s biodiesel production capacity may rise by 3.6mil KL (3.1mil tonnes) in the coming years. The Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association said that the increase in production capacity will come from six producers. They include Tunas Baru Lampung, Multi Nabati Asahan, Energi Unggul Persada and Batara Elok Semesta Terpadu. Currently, Indonesia has 11.6mil KL (10.1mil tonnes) of biodiesel production capacity. Indonesia has a biodiesel consumption target of 9.6mil KL (8.4mil tonnes) this year.

• Reuters reported that China has granted tariff exemptions for some crushers to import US soybeans. Sources said that the exemption, which will take effect from the day of the issue, will be valid for a year. A source added that many companies have applied for the tariff exemption and received approvals from the authorities. The process was not difficult. As part of January’s Phase 1 trade deal with the USA, China has promised to buy at least an additional US$12.5bil worth of US goods in 2020F and at least US$19.5bil in 2021F.

• According to Reuters also, soybean oil inventories in China are expected to rise from the existing high levels. China’s inventory of soybean oil have climbed by 50% this year as edible oil consumption slowed. According to Cofeed, which is an agricultural consultancy, the inventories - 1.344mil tonnes as of 3 March and around 30% above the seasonal average since 2015, look set to increase further as soybean processing recovers while at the same time, demand is sluggish. An industry expert said that weekly demand for soybean oil in the second and third week of the extended Chinese New Year holiday was around 150,000 to 160,000 tonnes, which is almost half of the levels in previous years.

• FoodNavigator reported that Kellogg will phase out using palm oil obtained through RSPO credits in its global supply chain by 2025F. However, Kellogg will continue to use RSPO “mass balance” sustainable palm oil, which is a mix of RSPO-certified oil and non-certified RSPO oil. Previously, Kellogg had committed to use 100% RSPO oil by 2023F, which included “credits”, “mass balance” and “segregated” certification. Kellogg said that currently, 15% of the palm oil that the company buys are through “credits”. In Europe, all of the palm oil used by Kellogg are 100% certified “segregated”.

• USDA (US Department of Agriculture) has released its monthly demand and supply projections for vegetable oils. USDA has raised its forecast of world inventory of soybean for 2019/2020F by 3.6% to 102.44mil from 98.86mil tonnes. This is due to higher soybean production in Brazil and Argentina. Soybean output in Brazil is now estimated to be 126mil tonnes in 2019/2020F vs. 125mil tonnes previously. Argentina’s soybean production is expected to be 54mil tonnes in 2019/2020F compared with 53mil tonnes originally.

• Brazil is expected to overtake the USA as the world’s largest producer of soybean in 2019/2020F. Brazil’s soybean production is forecast to be 126mil tonnes in 2019/2020F against USA’s 96.84mil tonnes. Brazil is anticipated to account for 36.9% of world soybean production while USA is envisaged to account for another 28.3%. Argentina is estimated to make up another 15.8% of world soybean production in 2019/2020F.

Source: AmInvest Research - 16 Mar 2020