Source: APKinform (Ukraine)
Imports of four major vegetable oils in the European Union in October-December 2024 fell to a 12-year low, amounting to only 1.38 million tons, which is 14% behind the figure for the same period of the previous year, reports APK-Inform with reference to Oil World.
The decline in imports came on top of a drop in domestic production of vegetable oils in the fourth quarter of 2024, primarily rapeseed and sunflower oil.
Oil World notes that vegetable oil consumption also declined significantly in the same period, mainly due to lower biodiesel production.
In the previous quarter, consumption of palm, rapeseed and sunflower oils fell sharply and was partially offset by an increase in this indicator for soybean oil. Thus, soybean oil imports to the EU increased by 8% to 0.66 million tons in January-December 2024, of which a record 0.33 million tons were supplied from Ukraine (+37%) and only 0.14 million tons from Argentina (-25%).
At the same time, official data show an increase in EU imports of used cooking oil (UCO) to a record 2 million tons by the end of 2024 (+22% to 2023). Large inflows of this product mainly from Southeast Asia are likely to intensify competition in the biofuel feedstock market.