SHANGHAI (Interfax-China) -- China's annual soybean consumption could reach 45.56 million tonnes in 2012 due to the rapid development seen in the country's soybean processing industry in recent years, a senior CIFCO Group official said at the China International Oils and Oilseeds Conference held in Guangzhou yesterday.
China's soybean processing industry has developed rapidly over the past 10 years, with soybean crushing activities seeing an average annual growth of 15.5% between the 1997/1998 and 2005/2006 production years, Futures Daily reported, citing Chen Gang, the vice manager of the CIFCO Group's oils department.
Chen went on to predict that output from China's soybean processing industry will maintain an annual growth rate of around 5% over the next five years.
In the report, Chen also reportedly noted that the country's soy oil consumption currently accounts for 35.4% of all domestic edible oil consumption.
An analyst with a Chinese futures company, who wished to remain anonymous, predicted that the Chinese government may lift domestic soybean stockpiles to 5 million tonnes by 2010, up from the current stockpile of 500,000 tonnes, as domestic production and consumption demands grow.
In 2006, 82% of all soybeans utilized by the domestic processing industry were imported. By comparison, only 30% of such soybeans were imported in 1997. China became the world's largest soy oil, rapeseed oil and palm oil last year.
Soybean and soy meal futures continued their rise from yesterday on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) as turnover remained low.
The most traded soybean 2008 September delivery climbed 0.79% higher and closed at RMB 4,442 ($600.34) per tonne, while the May soy meal contract gained 0.65% to close at RMB 3,432 ($463.83) per tonne.
CBOT soybean and soy oil traded at high levels this week, as tight supply this year has provided bullish fundamentals for soybeans, while the soy meal market was a little weaker.
"China's heavy demand for soy oil remains the focus of the whole world, and rising crude oil prices have continued to pull soybean prices higher. I believe there will be another policy move from the government to cool edible oil prices in the future, but I also doubt the effectiveness of the government's market adjustment," Wu Qiujuan, an analyst with Liaoning Zhongqi Futures Co., said.
(c) Interfax-China 2007. For further information regarding Interfax China Commodities Daily Reports, contact David Harman at david.harman@interfax-news.com or (852) 2537-2262.
