China becomes a supplier of soybean oil

China is cementing its status as the world’s largest buyer of soybeans and quietly reshaping the trade in oilseed products, Bloomberg reports. The Asian country is ramping up soybean oil exports as rising global demand for biodiesel makes the product attractive enough to export overseas. China is also testing for the first time shipments of soybean meal from Argentina, a replacement for traditional imports of the beans and their domestic processing into animal feed. Both changes, though small in volume, mark a departure from long-standing trade flows. They also provide room for the country to continue reducing its need for U.S. soybeans if the trade war between Beijing and Washington continues.