• Bloomberg reported that India’s edible oil processors want the government to increase import taxes to protect domestic companies. The Solvent Extractors Association of India said that the basic duty on refined palm oil imports should be raised to 20% from 12.5% currently. Officials should also scrap the rule that allows duty-free imports of sunflower oil.

• In a related development, Sunvin Group said that inbound shipments in January probably fell to their lowest level since July 2022 as cold weather prompted traders and processors to cut purchases. India’s imports are estimated to have fallen to 762,928 tonnes in January from 1.1mil tonnes in December. Tanks in India are overflowing with palm oil because of heavy imports earlier.

• Also, Ukraine has approved a proposal to boost the minimum tonnage of grain-export ships in the crop corridor to 25,000 tonnes. Still, it may take about 1.5 months for bigger-sized ships to boost grain and oilseed export volumes due to the slow pace of ship inspections.

• S&P Global Platts quoted traders as saying that Vietnam, facing depressed hog margins, is likely to defer corn purchases until Brazil starts harvesting its crop. This is due to high prices for soybean meal and the current backwarded feed corn market. The surge in hog supply for the Lunar New Year led to lower prices and there is still ample availability in the market, which is expected to keep a lid on prices. The sector also faces challenges from rising input costs for feed and feed raw materials.

• DTN/Progressive Farmer reported that a group of 10 Midwest senators has asked US President Biden to convince Brazil’s President Lula da Silva to eliminate the country’s import tariff on ethanol. The Brazilian Foreign Trade Chamber reinstated the tariff on 1 February for US ethanol imports. The new tariff rate is 16% in 2023F, rising to 18% in 2024F. Currently, the US exports about 9% to 10% of its ethanol production. Brazil is one of the USA’s largest ethanol trading partners.

• The Asahi Shimbun said that Japan is in negotiations with Singapore and the USA to outline a framework for jointly procuring sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The government is hoping to bring the agreement into reality in 2 to 3 years as the global race for biofuel is intensifying, thanks to expanded curbs on carbon emissions in the world. In October 2022, the International Civil Aviation Organisation made a decision to achieve net zero carbon emissions for international flights by 2050F. In line with this, carriers in developed countries have to achieve a 15% reduction of 2019 emission levels in 2024F, guaranteeing that the race to obtain SAF will escalate going forward.

• According to researchers from the University of Cambridge, the introduction of the soft drinks industry levy in England was followed by a drop in the number of cases of obesity among older school children Taking into account current trends in obesity, the estimates suggest that around 5,000 cases of obesity per year may have been prevented in girls in Year Six. The research team found that the introduction of the sugar tax was associated with an 8% relative reduction in obesity in Year Six girls. Reductions were greatest in girls whose schools were in deprived areas.

Source: AmInvest Research - 20 Feb 2023