• Bloomberg reported that Indonesia has filed a complaint against EU’s fatty acids duties to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). According to a statement from WTO, Indonesia has requested for dispute consultations with EU on the imposition of definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of fatty acids from the country. EU’s anti-dumping duties on Indonesian fatty acids were set at 15.2%-46.4% on 18 January 2023.

• According to Bloomberg also, the palm oil sector is asking the EU for latitude in the way it defines forests as the commodity industry scrambles to prepare for regulations that aim to curb the bloc’s role in deforestation. The EU Deforestation Regulation uses a UN-backed definition that establishes forests on factors like tree height and canopy. However, Malaysia uses a broader “natural forests” definition from the Accountability Framework initiative, which includes those regenerated on former agricultural land.

• Reuters reported that the rebound in palm oil prices is likely to be capped by abundant supplies of rival soyoil and sunflower oil, “soft” oils that are available at discounts to palm oil for the first time in more than a year. Dealers said that CPO imports are being offered at US$930/tonne, including cost of insurance and freight in India for March delivery, with soyoil at US$915/tonne and sunflower oil at US$910/tonne. An industry player said that in India, buyers are trimming palm oil imports and increasing soyoil for shipments in coming months. Another industry player said that India’s soyoil imports could jump to 300,000 tonnes in March and further to 400,000 tonnes in April while palm oil imports could fall to around 700,000 tonnes.

• According to Reuters also, US exports of agricultural and related products reached a value of US$191bil in 2023, down 10% from the 2022 record as both commodity prices and shipment volumes declined. This marks a 3-year low albeit similar to 2021 levels, reflecting competition from key suppliers particularly when it comes to satisfying Chinese demand. Brazil’s combined corn and soy shipments in 2023 totalled nearly 158mil tonnes, some 29% higher than the 2022 record. US corn and soy exports last year totalled 94mil tonnes, down 18% to a 4-year low. In December, China was the destination for 38% of US cargoes, down from the 3- month average of 59%.

• The Economic Times cited the Solvent Extractors Association of India as saying that the country’s palm imports in January fell 12.4% from the previous month to 782,983 tonnes. Imports of soyoil rose 23.7% to 188,859 tonnes, those of sunflower oil were down 15.6% to 220,079 tonnes while total vegetable oil imports fell 8.4% to 1.2mil tonnes.

• The Nation of Thailand reported that the Thai Rice Exporters Association has warned of a tough year ahead after lowering its export target for this year to 7.5mil tonnes, down from 8.7mil tonnes in 2023. According to an official from the association, strong Thai exports last year were driven by high demand following India’s ban on outbound rice shipments. This year however, India will resume exports and take back its position as the world’s top rice exporter with shipments estimated at 16.5mil tonnes. Thailand and Vietnam will compete for second place at 7.5mil tonnes while Pakistan will be fourth with 5mil, followed by US at 2.7mil tonnes and China at 2.2mil.

Source: AmInvest Research - 19 Feb 2024