The supply of vegetable oil in Japan is fulfilled by (1) oil that has been expressed from oil-bearing raw materials and refined in Japan, and (2) imported oil (mainly crude oil). Figure 18 shows long-term trends for these oils in the categories of soybean oil, rapeseed oil, tropical oil (palm oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil), and other vegetable oil. The total supply amount increased by 2.5 times during the 30 year-period from 1970 to 2000. Since then, supply amount has remained steady or decreased slightly. The decrease in 2009 is believed to have been caused by a slump in consumption following the Lehman shock.
Until the 1980s, soybean oil was the most-supplied type of oil. However, by the end of the 1980s, soybean oil had been surpassed by rapeseed oil. From the 1990s, there was an increase in the supply amount for tropical oil, mainly palm oil. Conversely, the supply of soybean oil peaked in 2003 and has declined since. Therefore, rapeseed oil supported the increase in the supply amount (=demand amount) during the 1980s and 1990s. In the 2000s, the decrease in soybean oil was offset by an increase in tropical oil. Afterward, starting from the later 2010s, soybean oil has been recovering, supported by increasing demand for vegetable oils. Amidst such circumstances, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020, the vegetable oil total supply amount decreased to 2.73 million tons in 2020. Afterwards, the total supply continued to trend below previous levels due to factors such as the increase in product sales prices as the result of the increased cost burden caused by soaring raw material prices and rising energy costs. The vegetable oil total supply amount was 2.64 million tons in 2021, 2.61 million tons in 2022 and 2.53 million tons in 2023.
Figure 18: Changes in amount of vegetable oil supplied in Japan
(Unit: 1,000 tons)
Source: Survey on Oil Production Results (MAFF), Trade Statistics (MOF)
Note: Amounts for each type of oil were calculated by adding the domestically-produced amount and the imported amount. The domestically-produced amount uses a crude oil base, while the imported amount includes both crude oil and refined oil. However, no distinction was made when calculating the total amount.
Table 8 shows the supply amount for vegetable oil divided into the categories of domestically-produced oil and imported oil in 2023.
Table 8: Supply amount for vegetable oil by type in Japan (2023)
(Unit: 1,000 tons)
Source: Same as Figure 18
