These cooking oil stocks are surging, as Trump-China trade tensions heat up

By Tomi Kilgore

Trump considers ending business with China on cooking, and share of Bunge and Archer-Daniels-Midland climb toward two-month highs

Shares of Bunge and Archer-Daniels-Midland rallied, after President Trump said America didn't need to buy cooking oil from China, and can 'easily produce cooking oil ourselves.'

Shares of companies in the cooking oil business continued to climb Wednesday, after President Donald Trump started using oils as leverage in his growing trade spat with China.

The rallies started very late in Tuesday's session, after Trump took another shot at China President Xi Jinping ahead of an economic summit in Asia later this month. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post late Tuesday that he was considering "terminating business with China having to do with cooking oil" given China's refusal to buy American soybeans.

Trump wrote "we don't need to purchase it from China" because America could "easily produce cooking oil ourselves."

Read: Trump suggests 'massive increase' on tariffs on China. Here's what's behind the threat.

See also: Here's where Trump's tariffs stand as new levies start for furniture cabinets and lumber.

Missouri-based Bunge Global SA's stock (BG) shot up 13.1% toward a one-year high, and was the S&P 500 index's SPX top performer on the day. On Tuesday, the stock was down 2.4% just before Trump's Truth Social post at 3:37 p.m. Eastern, but then it took off to close up 0.3%.

Bunge said in its 2024 annual report that of its principal operating facilities, 30.9% of total production capacity and 16.8% of its storage capacity was in North America.

And shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM) were up 3.3% in morning trading, to trade just shy of the 13-month high of $64.21 reached on Aug. 25. Like Bunge's, the stock was down 2.1% late Tuesday, but rallied in the final minutes to close up 0.3%.

The company said that in 2024, 50.6% of daily capacities at its agricultural services and oilseeds processing facilities are in North America, while 77.8% of storage capacity is in North America.

Bunge and Archer-Daniels-Midland have not responded to requests for comment on President Trump's post.

Separately, Bunge said Wednesday that it now expects 2025 adjusted earnings per share, which excludes nonrecurring items, of $7.30 to $7.60, with the new outlook including shares issued to complete the purchase of Viterra Ltd. in July 2025. The previous EPS guidance, which didn't include the closing of the deal, was approximately $7.75.

Bunge's stock had hiked up 19.9% in 2025 and Archer-Daniels-Midland shares have rallied 27%, while the S&P 500 had advanced 14.1%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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10-15-25 1054ET