News

The decrease in the estimated soybean planting areas in the US has shocked the market and led to an 8.5% increase in palm oil prices and a 10% increase in soybean prices over the past two sessions.

September futures for palm oil on the Bursa Malaysia Exchange rose by 5.1% to a three-month high of 3,985 ringgit/tonne or $854/tonne (+8.5% over two sessions) in response to Friday’s rise in soybean and soybean oil prices on the Chicago Exchange.

Even the data from surveying company Intertek Testing Services, showing a 6.9% decline in palm oil exports from Malaysia in June, did not restrain speculative jumps.

On the Chicago Exchange, July futures have seen an increase:

• Soybean oil: up 10% to $1,400/tonne (+9.7% in a week, +29% in a month).
• Soybean: up 5.4% to $574/tonne (+2.8%, +15.7%).

It is worth noting that soybean oil prices have increased more significantly due to soybean stocks in the US being 17% lower than last year as of June 1. As a result, processors have started importing soybeans from Brazil to utilize their capacity and reduce production costs.

On the Dalian Commodity Exchange in China, soybean oil contracts rose by 6%, while palm oil rose by 4.9%.

The rapid increase in soybean and palm oil prices has also supported sunflower oil prices, which rose by 1.7% to $895/tonne for buyer delivery, adding 7% in price over the week.