Covid Lockdowns Cut China’s Soyoil Use

Plunging demand for soyoil in China is expected to cut consumption of soybeans. A two-month lockdown in Shanghai and Covid restrictions in several other major cities have cut soyoil consumption, as restaurants account for about half of the country’s soyoil use per year. Demand for all edible oils in 2021-22 is forecast to drop 8.5% from a year ago to 39 MMT, the first decline this century, according to state-run National Grain & Oils Information Center. Soyoil consumption fell 11% and 15%, respectively, the past two months from the same periods in 2019, before the Covid pandemic, according to estimates from Mysteel, a China-based commodity consultancy. It forecasts soyoil use at 16.7 MMT this year, down about 500,000 MT from 2019.