Egypt bought soybean and sunflower oil almost $100/t cheaper than at the end of December

On January 31, the state-owned Egyptian operator GASC held a tender for the purchase of 30,000 tons of soybean oil and 10,000 tons of sunflower oil with delivery from February 25 to March 30 and payment by letter of credit on the spot or within 180 days, the purchase prices of which were $85/t and $96, $6/t, respectively, lower than at the previous auction on December 29, 2022.

The following offers of soybean oil were submitted to the tender:

• 10.5 thousand tons from InterGrain SA at a price of $1,320/t with immediate payment or $1,375/t with payment within 180 days,
• 6,000 tons from Belluno at $1,339/t with immediate payment or $1,399/t within 180 days,
• 12,000 t and 19,000 t from Aston at $1,300/t with immediate payment or $1,335/t within 180 days,
• 30,000 tons from Kargil at $1,325/t with immediate payment or $1,365/t within 180 days.

The tender also considered the following offers of sunflower oil:

• 16.5 thousand tons from Agric Sa at $1,300/t with immediate payment or $1,345/t within 180 days,
• 12 thousand tons from Viterra at $1,294/t with immediate payment or $1,342/t within 180 days,
• 12,000 tons from Belluno at $1,295/t with immediate payment or $1,355/t within 180 days,
• 5.5 thousand tons from Aston at $1,264/t with immediate payment or $1,350/t within 180 days,
• 6,000 tons from the Egyptian-African Company at $1,350/t with immediate payment or $1,395/t within 180 days,
• 10,000 tons from Kargil at $1,199.4/t with immediate payment or $1,236.4/t within 180 days.

The cheapest offers were sunflower oil at $1,199.4/t and soybean oil at $1,300/t S&F with the condition of payment immediately after delivery.

As a result of the auction, GASC purchased 35 thousand tons of vegetable oils with payment within 180 days, in particular:

• 19,000 tons of soybean oil from the company Aston Agro Industrial SA at a price of $1,330/t S&F,
• 10,000 tons of sunflower oil from the Kargil company at a price of $1,236.4/t S&F,
• 6 thousand tons of soybean oil from the local company Soiven at a price of $1,499.5/t S&F.

We would like to remind you that in previous tenders GASC purchased:

• December 29 - 30,000 tons of soybean oil from the LDC company at a price of $1,415/t C&F and 12,000 tons of sunflower oil from the Egyptian African company at a price of $1,330/t C&F,
• November 21 – 30,750 tons of sunflower oil at a price of $1,380/t C&F and 35,000 tons of soybean oil at a price of $1,475/t C&F produced by Bulgaria and the Russian Federation with delivery in January.
• in early November – 6,000 tons of sunflower oil at a price of $1,474/t C&F with delivery in December,
• at the end of October – 14,000 tons of soybean oil at a price of $1,600/t C&F.

Against the backdrop of increased supply and low prices for palm oil, purchase prices for soybean and sunflower oil in Egypt have fallen by 10-11% over the past two months.

March palm oil futures on the Malaysian exchange traded higher on Friday and Monday, but yesterday fell again by 3% to 3,813 ringgit/t, or $895/t, $30/t lower than the price at the end of December.

The decrease in purchase prices in Egypt confirms the global trend of falling prices for vegetable oils under the pressure of increased supply and reduced demand, which will add pessimism to Ukrainian producers in the near future.