Bullish Reports Drive Vegetable Oil Prices Sharply Higher

World vegetable oil prices jumped sharply on Monday as buying in the Asian markets drove soybean oil prices higher in the overnight session. Monday was the first opportunity for Asian traders to react to the latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, which was bullish and followed bullish data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). The continuation of the rally in soybean prices initially drove buying across the complex during the overnight session. However, During the U.S. session, fund spreading pushed soybean oil futures sharply higher while soybean meal prices fell. Crude oil prices were narrowly lower on Monday after trading on both sides of unchanged.

Soybean oil futures gained about 1 3/4 percent (December contract +58 basis points per pound) to set a fresh…