Weekly Review of Oil and Fat News

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Macroeconomic and weather-related: The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) will release data on palm oil production, exports, and inventory for May 2019 on June 12. Market analysts expect Malaysia’s palm oil inventory to drop to its lowest level in a decade by the end of May, marking the third consecutive month of decline due to reduced production and increased exports. On June 2, the Information Office of the State Council released a white paper titled \"The Chinese Position on Sino-US Economic and Trade Talks,\" taking a firm stance. The weather in the Midwestern United States is dry or features light rain, and the progress of soybean planting remains slow. Rainfall will be limited in the central and northwestern regions over the next seven days, allowing for an accelerated pace of soybean planting. The humid weather in the southern and eastern regions continues to delay sowing. The sowing progress in these areas is significantly behind normal levels. The limited rainfall in the Northern Great Plains will allow spring wheat sowing to be nearly completed and accelerate soybean sowing. According to the news, around 180 waste management vehicles will use biodiesel containing Malaysian palm oil, in order to test its feasibility for use in vehicles in China. This pilot project will be carried out in collaboration between Tsinghua University, Beijing TUS-Deqing Bioenergy Company, and the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). Malaysia’s Minister of Plantation and Primary Industries, Teresa Kok, is currently promoting palm oil in China. She witnessed the memorandum of understanding signed by the three parties. She said the project will begin in the next few months. Malaysian media reports that China has agreed to import nearly $150 million worth of Malaysian palm oil through barter trade. Reports say that Malaysia will export palm oil worth 1 billion RMB (approximately 144.87 million US dollars) to China, amounting to around 200,000 tons. Data from shipping research firm SGS released on Friday showed that Malaysia’s exports of palm oil products from May 1 to 31 increased by 6.5% on a month-on-month basis, reaching 1,688,104 tons. Data released by the South West Malaysia Palm Oil Association (SPPOMA) show that from May 1 to 31, Malaysia’s palm oil production increased by 1.8% compared to the same period in April, with a yield increase of 0.43% and an oil extraction rate increase of 0.26%. Data released by the European Commission show that between July 1, 2018, and May 26, 2019, the EU’s soybean imports for the 2018/19 season amounted to approximately 13.4 million tons, a 9% increase compared to the same period the previous year. The import volume of soybean meal was approximately 1,590 tons, a 6% decrease compared to the same period last year. The import volume of palm oil was approximately 5.7 million tons, a 1% decrease compared to the same period last year.