US Import of Lauric Oils Down in June

Data from Oil World revealed the US imported 53,000 MT of lauric oils in June, a substantial reduction by 37.5% from June last year at 84,800 MT.  Of this total, coconut oil was 37,700 MT and palm kernel oil was 15,300 MT for respective market shares of 71.1% and 28.9%.  Import of both oils declined from last year with coconut oil falling by 10.5% from 42,100 MT and palm kernel oil a sharp reduction by 64.2% from 42,700 MT.
The Philippines was leading supplier of lauric oil to the US during the month with delivery of 29,300 MT of coconut oil (15,800 MT last year) which comprised 55.3% of total lauric oil import mix.  Import from Indonesia was 20,100 MT (48,600 MT) consisting largely of palm kernel oil at 13,600 MT (23,700 MT) and smaller volume of coconut oil at 6,500 MT (24,900 MT).  The total accounted for 37.9% of total lauric oil purchases.  
Malaysia contributed 2.8% from shipment 1,500 MT (3,000 MT) of which coconut oil was 400 MT (100 MT) and palm kernel oil was 1,100 MT (2,900 MT).  Combined supplies from other countries stood at 2,100 MT (1,600 MT) and was made up of 1,500 MT (1,300 MT) coconut oil and 600 MT (300 MT) palm kernel oil.  The total was 4.0% of lauric oil uptake.
Imports for the first half of this year reached 403,100 MT, slightly lower by 2.8% when compared with 414,900 MT at the same time year-earlier.  Coconut oil at 254,100 MT was a significant rise from 211,400 MT in prior year.  Of the total, 60.3% came from the Philippines. By contrast, palm kernel oil at 149,000 MT vastly contracted by 26.8% from 203,500 MT.  Bulk of the total at 90.0% was supplied by Indonesia.