Vegetable Oil Prices Rally Sharply As Crude Continues Rally

World vegetable oil prices moved sharply higher on Friday as crude continued its torrid move higher. Crude oil was more than five percent higher at the end of U.S. agricultural trading, which contributed to the gains in soybean oil and palm oil.

Soybean oil futures jumped about 1 1/2 percent (July contract +40 basis points per pound) despite the National Oilseed Processors Association’s (NOPA’s) larger-than-expected end-of-April soybean oil inventories estimate. NOPA reported soybean oil stocks among members totaled 2.11 billion pounds, which was above analysts’ expectation of 2.03 billion. The move left the July contract just below the trend line formed by the highs on April 13 and May 11. The rally over the last two days has driven the July contract to the upper end of the recent range. However, selling above…