China to Import More Palm Oil

China is increasingly importing more palm oil, meat and seafood due to the impact of African swine fever (ASF) outbreak, which led to the mass culling of large numbers of its domestic herd, FoodNavigator-asia reported citing Fitch Solutions.  

Since the trade war in 2018 when Beijing imposed tariffs on US soybean imports, Chinese manufacturers have swapped soybean oil for palm oil, with China’s imports of the commodity rising by 23.1% year-on year in Q3 2019.  This is likely to increase prices globally in 2020, which Fitch said would ultimately be passed on to consumers. China imports most of its palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia with the former responsible for nearly two-thirds (66.5%) and the balance from Malaysia.