Chinese buyers will have to cancel almost all soyaoil cargoes from Argentina, totalling about 200,000 tonnes per month booked between May and July, as China retaliates against Argentina's anti-dumping measures over Chinese products, traders and analysts estimated.
Buyers have booked between 200,000 to 250,000 tonnes of soyaoil each month for shipment during the three months, of which most are from Argentina, the world's top seller. "We think most buyers have to cancel but some state-owned companies are still co-ordinating with government authorities as it came in a short notice," said one trading executive who declined to be identified. Some of the oil imports could be for the rotation of state oil reserves, he said.
Chinese companies were called up in an emergency meeting on Wednesday and urged not to import soyaoil from Argentina as a retaliatory measure against the country, which launched anti-dumping duties and investigations against many Chinese products, including shoes, steel pipes and ignitors.
Officials from the state quarantine bureau told participants at the meeting that local authorities from April 1 will implement China's own standard "strictly" in inspecting crude soyaoil cargoes from Argentina, which cannot currently meet the standard. "We are not clear how long the situation will last. If it lasts for 5 or 6 months, it will definitely boost palmoil imports," said the executive who joined the Wednesday meeting.
But China's current palmoil stocks were still high, or at record high levels of 600,000 tonnes, said the executive. The block on Argentina's soyaoil imports may not spur an immediate surge on soyabeans as current sale of soyameal has been hit by outbreaks of pig disease. Soyaoil imports from another exporter, Brazil, will not be interrupted, traders said.
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