OILS AND FATS IN THE MARKET PLACE
MAJOR PRODUCING AND CONSUMING COUNTRIES
USA
Figures for production and trade during the three years 2006/07 to 2008/09 in oilseeds and vegetable oils in the US are summarised in Table 1. These three years have been selected because figures for the last two years are atypical: they are lower than in 2006/07. Forecasts for 2009/10 (not shown here) suggest a return to the higher figures of the past.
US production, consumption, and trade of oilseeds and vegetable oils are dominated by soybeans. This is apparent in the figures in Table 1. The USA is the largest producer, exporter, and crusher of soybeans and second only to China in the consumption of soybean oil. Other vegetable oils consumed in the US are rapeseed oil (imported mainly from Canada), corn oil and cottonseed oil both produced domestically, and tropical oils (palm, palmkernel, and coconut) imported from South East Asia. In addition, the USA is a significant producer, exporter, and consumer of tallow.
After making allowance, particularly for much of the tallow and some of the lauric oils for non-food uses, soybean oil is the major oil consumed as human food in the US. Because of the presence of linolenic acid and the high level of linoleic acid, soybean oil may require brush (light) hydrogenation or partial hydrogenation before food use. There is now concern that this process produces undesirable trans acids. These have now to be declared on food labels in the USA and most manufacturers have modified their recipes so that the level of trans acids is so low that trans-free status can be claimed. There has also been increased interest in low-linolenic varieties of soybean oil, which can be used as frying oils and salad oils without brush hydrogenation. Partial hydrogenation to produce the required characteristics for spreads is being replaced by interesterification of blends of soybean oil and more saturated oils.
Other useful information about soybean and other oils in the USA can be found in the web site Soystats 2009.
Table 1. Oilseeds and vegetable oils (million tonnes) in USA during the three years 2006/07 to 2008/09. Figures from USDA Report of December 2009. |
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| 06/07 | 07/08 | 08/09 | |
| Oilseeds | |||
| Production | 96.84 | 82.45 | 89.20 |
| Soybean oil | 87.00 | 72.86 | 80.75 |
| Exports | 31.65 | 33.05 | 35.80 |
| Soybeans | 30.39 | 31.54 | 34.92 |
| Crush | 53.48 | 53.50 | 49.35 |
| Vegetable oils | |||
| Production | 10.41 | 10.53 | 9.65 |
| Soybean oil | 9.29 | 9.33 | 8.50 |
| Exports | 1.33 | 1.68 | 1.46 |
| Imports | 2.53 | 3.11 | 3.23 |
| Consumption | 11.66 | 12.23 | 11.21 |
| Soybeans | 8.43 | 8.32 | 7.43 |
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Scottish Crop Research Institute (and MRS Lipid Analysis Unit), Invergowrie, Dundee (DD2 5DA), Scotland |
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Updated: Jan. 22nd, 2010 |
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