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A total of US$26.71 million worth of edible plant oils was imported via Shanghai Port in the first quarter of the year, about three times the figure for the same period last year.
Sources with Shanghai Customs said imports of edible plant oils had surged since June last year.
But prices for imported unrefined soya bean oil and palm oil stearin rose by six percent and 11.6 percent respectively according to comparable statistics for the fourth quarter of last year.
Experts predict rising transactions in global edible plant oils and falling stockpiles have made it inevitable that the prices on the international market in the first three months of this year will be notably higher than for the same periods of 2000 and 2001.
Unrefined soya bean oil imported from Argentina was valued at 11.81 million US dollars, while palm oil stearin, worth 11.53 million US dollars, was imported from Malaysia.
Imports of unrefined soya bean oil and palm oil stearin made up87.4 percent of the total imported edible plant oil via Shanghai Port.
China relies on imports for one fifth of its edible plant oils. Last year, the central government slashed the tariff rate on above-quota imported soya bean oil from 121.6 percent to 52.4 percent, but hiked the tariff rate for above-quota imported palm oil from 30 percent to 52.4 percent.
(Xinhua News Agency June 5, 2003)
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