Jan. 22 (Oil World) - Palm oil futures in Malaysia rallied today andclosed at 1237 Ringgit per tonne for April, up 29 from yesterday. A pickupin export demand in the second half of January and declining Malaysianpalm oil production and stocks contributed to the firmness in the market.Pakistan has considerably increased palm oil imports in recent months dueto rising demand. (More details will follow tomorrow.) China is likely tobecome a more active buyer of palm oil and probably also of other oils andfats in the next few weeks. Chinese stocks declined recently and higherimports are needed to satisfy demand. It is expected that the governmentwill announce a higher import quota for palm oil soon. We currentlyestimate total Malaysian palm oil stocks at 870 Thd T as of end-March 2002(down sharply from 1251 Thd T a year ago), compared with 1.21 Mn T as ofend-December 2001 (against 1.42 a year ago).

CHINA: Soybean imports and crushings were higher than expected in the pastfew months. Official trade data for December confirm imports at 1.14 Mn T,which brought the total for the Oct/Dec 2001 quarter to 2.77 Mn (up 33%).Soya meal production exceeded requirements and this boosted Chineseexports of soybean meal to 115 Thd T in December and to 212 Thd T inOct/Dec. Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and North Korea were the keydestinations. Also exports of soybeans exceeded the year-ago level.Imports and crushings of rapeseed declined sharply in recent months. Alsopalm oil imports fell below the year ago level in Oct/Dec, which resultedin a drawdown of stocks. Chinese imports of grains increased from a yearago during Oct/Dec, while exports declined. Details are given in thetable.

CHINA : Imports & Exports of Sel. Commodities (1000 T)Dec Oct/Dec J a n / D e cImports 2001 2001 20002001 2000 1999Soybeans 1138 2774 208113939 10419 4319Soya oil . . 17* 52* 52*207* 356* 804Soya meal . 20 6354 505 686*Rapeseed 100 208 8451724 2969 2825*Palm oil . . 192* 549*599* 2047* 1764* 1347*

ExportsSoybeans 66 87 47248 213 204Soya oil . . 9 16 959 35 53Soya meal 115 212 11315 29 14Rape meal 21 28 163476 978 381Corn . . . . . 663 14682721 5998 10466 4305