Palm oil in China: Consumption growth is expected in food sector as government moves to phase out GM soybean oil

Data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) has revealed that China imported an additional 438,747 MT of palm oil from Malaysia to reach 1.85mn MT in total between January to August 2020, representing a rise of 31.1%. According to experts, one of the main drivers here is an estimated rise in demand for palm oil within China's food sector.'China's consumption of palm oil is expected to rise by around 3.5% next year, and within this the food sector is going to be a major contributor,"​ Beijing Heyirong Group and commodities trade expert Zhou Shiyong told the audience at an MPOC webinar on the palm oil market in China. “One of the reasons for this is that the Chinese government is looking to move away from GMO oil products as a strategy, and so the food industry is likely to replay soybean oil with palm oil when manufacturing food products more and more moving forward.”​ One of the likely reasons for this shift away from GM soybean oil is consumer-driven – research from the ...