- Soybean oil prices jumped last week as the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) said that the quota for biodiesel in US would increase to 1.7bil gallons this year and 1.8bil gallons next year. Currently, about 22% of soybean oil is expected to be used as feedstock in the biodiesel industry in US in 2015F/2016F.

- Bloomberg also reported that in Argentina, the Labour Ministry has reached an agreement with the Oil Crusher Union to boost salaries by 27%. In contrast, an earlier report said that a strike would be taking place at the ports on Parana River from 1 June 2015 onwards. The workers are asking for a 42% pay hike.

- Workers at the edible oil processing plants in Rosario have been going on strikes and picketing at terminals since early-May. The Federation of Oilseed Workers was demanding for a 36% increase in salary to keep up with the annual inflation rate of 30%. The vessels, which were not loaded due to the strikes, were supposed to deliver commodities like soybean and flour to countries such as China and Vietnam. Due to this, there is a possibility that buyers may switch to soybean from US instead.

- Bloomberg reported that Indonesia is expected to complete the finance ministerial decree, administrative and legal processes for the implementation of the palm oil export levy in mid-June 2015. This was in respond to news reports that the palm oil export levy may be postponed to August 2015.

- Oil World said that palm oil used in global biodiesel production is expected to fall by 0.3mil tonnes to 9.3mil tonnes this year. World biodiesel output is estimated to decline by 1.4mil tonnes to 29mil tonnes this year due to competition from fossil fuel, which is cheaper.

- Reuters reported that armed protesters entered a palm oil plantation in south-east Liberia and took several people as hostages last week. The palm oil plantation is partly owned by Golden Agri-Resources. The hostages were later freed by the Liberian police and personnel from the United Nations peacekeeping mission. The protesters were in a pay dispute with the company. Also last month, the Forest Peoples Programme accused the plantation company of taking land from the community without their consent.

- China’s palm oil imports fell by 30.4% in the first four months of the year compared with the same period last year. The country’s soybean imports inched down by 4.1%. Interestingly, China’s imports of sugar climbed by 36.5% YoY during the January to April period. Compared with the other soft commodities, sugar was the only one China bought more in the first four months of the year.

Source: AmeSecurities Research - 1 Jun 2015