Reuters – Plunging demand for soyoil in China is expected to cut consumption as COVID-19 lockdowns have shuttered restaurants and canteens, according to traders and analysts.
China is the world’s top consumer of edible oils, with millions of restaurants guzzling about half of the country’s roughly 17 million tonnes of soyoil.
But a two-month lockdown in Shanghai and anti-COVID-19 movement curbs in several other major cities have cut soyoil consumption.
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Demand for all edible oils in the 2021-22 marketing year, beginning last September, is set to drop 8.45 per cent from a year ago to 39.02 million tonnes, the first decline this century, according to the National Grain and Oils Information Center. The government think-tank pointed to lockdowns, high soybean prices and substitution with animal fats for the drop.
Soyoil consumption fell 11 per cent in March and 15 per cent in April from the same periods in 2019, before the COVID pandemic, according to estimates by Mysteel, a China-based commodity consultancy.
For the 2021-22 crop year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates China will consume 17.4 million tonnes of soyoil, down from 17.6 million tonnes in the 2020-21 period. The USDA predicts consumption to rebound the following year to a record 18.05 million tonnes.
