North Korea's recent import of edible oil from China has increased significantly

On March 3, 2022, Yonhap News Agency reported that North Korea has been actively purchasing edible oil recently as the international soybean price has pushed up the price of edible oil .
According to a number of Chinese traders with North Korea on the 3rd, they had previously received orders of 300-400 tons of edible oil from North Korea per month, and recently received orders of 200-300 tons every few days .
Affected by global supply chain problems and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, international soybean prices have risen, and edible oil prices have risen.
North Korea's move may be aimed at preparing for a rainy day .
The edible oils were shipped from Longkou port in Shandong, China to Nampo port in North Korea .
It is worth noting that the DPRK-China railway trade has decreased significantly recently .
According to a North Korean source, after the DPRK and China restarted railway trade after a year and a half on January 16, freight trains between the two places run once a day, and once every three or four days in the recent past, and freight trains have also been cut in half.
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Analysts believe that this may be because the epidemic prevention facilities at North Korea's Uiju Airport, where imported goods are stored, have been saturated .
Under this circumstance, the "Rodong Sinmun", the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea, reported on the 2nd that during the Sanitation Month, which lasts until April, emergency epidemic prevention work for the new crown epidemic will be carried out .
Based on this, it is predicted that the railway trade between the DPRK and China may not return to the pre-epidemic level in the short term .