In W33 in the soybean oil landscape, soybean oil futures on the Chicago Stock Exchange increased throughout the week, propelled by a combination of factors, including strong demand indicators, positive crushing data, and lower-than-expected soybean oil inventories in the United States (US). On Monday, August 14, soybean oil futures for Sept-23 delivery closed up 1.43% to USD 65.05 per pound (lb) due to increased demand. This includes a week-on-week (WoW) increase in United States (US) soybean shipment inspections reported by the USDA, a private sale of 416 thousand metric tons (mt) for the 2023/24 MY, and strong interest in soybeans indicated by Chinese customs data.
Continuing this trend, on August 15, soybean oil futures increased by 1.31% to USD 65.90/lb. This rise was supported by data from the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA), which revealed higher-than-expected crushing activity and the lowest inventory levels in ten months. The US soybean crush in July reached 4.72 million metric tons (mmt), surpassing both private company estimates and June's figures of 4.66 mmt and 4.49 mmt, respectively. Meanwhile, US soybean oil inventories in July were reported at 1.527 billion pounds, falling short of the market's projected average of 1.687 billion pounds. This marks the lowest inventory level in the past ten months, showing a 9.3% year-on-year (YoY) decrease. On August 16, soybean oil futures experienced a 1.32% increase, reaching USD 66.77/lb, and this upward trend continued on August 17 with a 1.48% rise, closing at USD 67.76/lb.
India's soybean oil imports in July fell 22% month-on-month (MoM) to 342,270 mt as the crude palm oil discount surpassed USD 150/mt compared to crude soybean oil. This significant price difference has led to considerations among refiners to shift towards palm oil instead. Lastly, Egypt's General Directorate of Commodities Supply (GASC) plans to initiate an international tender to purchase vegetable oils between September 20 and October 5. Additionally, GASC initiated bids at the start of W33 to acquire 1 thousand mt of soybean oil and 500 mt of sunflower oil for export from September 15 to October 10.
