Soybean Oil Prices to Rise by 4% in 2022 Over Increase in Demand for Biofuels

In 2022, global soybean oil prices, driven by an increase in the demand for biofuels, have been projected to rise by about 4 percent, to $1,425 per tonne; a market report from IndexBox reveals.

According to the IndexBox report, the growing demand for biofuels, especially in Asia, will increase the prices of soybean oil globally.

The platform put it that in 2021, the average annual soybean oil price rose by 65 percent year-on-year to $1,385 per tonne, from $838 per tonne. Strong demand and high freight rates in China, which is the world’s second-largest importer of soybean oil, resulted in the most rapid price growth of the commodity in the third quarter (Q3) of the same year. Weather-related disruptions to production in South America also caused soybean oil prices to rise fast.

In 2020, IndexBox estimates that soybean oil purchases in the foreign markets rose by 7.5% to 13 million tonnes, increasing for the second year in a row after three years of decline. In value terms, soybean oil imports have grown notably to $10.3 billion.

India was the highest importing country with a purchase volume of around 3.7 million tonnes, accounting for 28% of global supplies. China ranked second with a purchase volume of 963 thousand tonnes.  Algeria (670 thousand tonnes) and Bangladesh (666 thousand tonnes) were ranked as the third and fourth major importing country.

The four countries altogether accounted for about 17% of total soybean oil imports. Coming behind as the fifth-highest importer is Morocco (547 thousand tonnes), followed by Mauritania (537 thousand tonnes), Peru (521 thousand tonnes), South Korea (390 thousand tonnes), Colombia (378 thousand tonnes), Venezuela (373 thousand tonnes), Egypt (243 thousand tonnes), Poland (229 thousand tonnes) and Nepal (215 thousand tonnes).

India in value terms ($3 billion) being the largest market for soybean oil imports in the world, accounted for 29 percent of global imports. The second position in the ranking was taken by China ($725 million) with a 7 percent share. North African country, Algeria came third with a share of 4.6 percent of the total value.

Top Soybean oil exporters

In 2020, Argentina was the major exporter of soybean oil (5.3 million tonnes), constituting 42% of total exports. The United States (1238 thousand tonnes), Brazil (1110 thousand tonnes), Paraguay (631 thousand tonnes), the Netherlands (615 thousand tonnes) and Russia (611 thousand tonnes) follow, altogether accounting for 33% of global supplies. Meanwhile, Spain (387 thousand tonnes), Bolivia (377 thousand tonnes), Ukraine (302 thousand tonnes), Turkey (208 thousand tonnes) and Germany (192 thousand tonnes) had relatively small shares in the total volume.

In value terms, Argentina remains the largest supplier of soybean oil in the world ($ 3.7 billion), which accounts for 39% of global exports. The United States ($ 979 million), with a share of 10% of the total supply is ranked second. Both countries are followed by Brazil with an 8% share.