Crude Continues to Drive World Vegetable Oil Prices Higher

World vegetable oil prices continued to follow crude oil higher on Monday. The June contract, which expires on Tuesday, has rallied almost $13 per barrel in May and has nearly tripled since bottoming after the May contract expired. Crude continues to move higher on optimism about a recovery in economic activity as restrictions put in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic are lifted. The optimism has helped boost world vegetable oil prices due to the outlook for the economy and the improving profitability of biofuel production.

Soybean oil futures rose about 2 3/4 percent (July contract +74 basis points per pound) on the strength of crude oil and technically driven buying above the 50-day moving average. It was the first time the most actively traded July contract settled above the 50-day moving average…