NEW DELHI, Oct 12 (Commoditiescontrol) : The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in its report on Thursday that growing U.S. demand for soybean oil driven by low-carbon fuel mandates will continue to suppress soybean oil exports in 2023/24, widening the trade gap and pushing the United States out of the global soybean oil export market.
U.S. production of renewable diesel grew significantly in recent years. While new crushing facilities and expansion of existing facilities may increase domestic supplies of soybean oil, higher biomass-based diesel demand in the United States has caused major shifts in vegetable oil imports.
Until recently, the United States was a major supplier of soybean oil to the world. Exports peaked at 1.5 million tons in 2009/10 and averaged 1.0 million tons between 2010-2021.
In 2022/23, U.S. soybean oil exports fell drastically to only 0.2 million tons. At the same time, soybean oil imports surpassed exports, making the United States a net importer of soybean oil for the first time in history. Those shifts came as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized higher multiyear biofuel blending targets.
The change in biofuel policies also lured imports of other feedstocks such as canola oil, tallow, and used cooking oil.
U.S. canola oil imports have skyrocketed in 2022/23 and are projected to grow even further in 2023/24. The share of Canada canola exports that went to the United States increased from an average 56 percent from 2018-2021 to 88 percent in the first 8 months of 2023. Other importers, like
China, shifted to rapeseed oil imports from Russia and Belarus instead of Canada. In 2023/24, U.S. rapeseed oil imports are projected to reach a new record of 3.0 million tons.
Higher domestic vegetable oil prices and a strong U.S. dollar encouraged imports of used cooking oil (UCO) to meet domestic biofuel demand. In 2022/23 (October-August), imports of commodities under harmonized system heading 1518.00 (Processed animal, vegetable oils, industrial preps nesoi) reached nearly 882,000 tons, valued at nearly $1.2 billion. The majority of those imports came from China (37 percent) and Canada (27 percent). This trend is likely to continue into the next marketing year.
(By Commoditiescontrol Bureau)
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