November 27, 2007

China: World's top soy oil importer

China's soy oil import and consumption reached 2.4 million tonnes in 2006 and 86.3 million tonnes in 2007, according to China's Dalian Commodity Exchange.

This makes China's import of soybean oil, palm oil and rape seed oil the largest in the world.

China's 2.4-million tonnes of soy oil import in 2006/07 accounted for 24 percent of the world's total produce. The country's domestic soy output reached 6.38 million tonnes which is 18 percent of the world's total.

In 2006/07, China imported 330,000 tonnes of rape seed oil, or 15 percent of the world's rape seed trade in the period. Around 4.61 million tonnes of rape seed oil were produced in the year, 26 percent of the world's total, while 4.89 million tonnes of rape seed oil were consumed, accounting 27 percent of the total globally.