Soybean Oil Prices Mixed on Profit-Taking in Spreads

Nearby soybean oil prices fell on Monday as traders pressured crushing margins and light oil share spreading by funds weighed on nearby contracts. The decline in nearby contracts was notable given the large overnight gains supported by a rally in palm oil futures. However, selling in the last hour of trading drove the benchmark soybean oil contract down more than one percent, leaving it to settle unchanged. Concerns about slowing production, in excess of the typical seasonal decline, drove buying across the palm oil forward curve. The moves caused the spread between the January soybean oil and palm oil contracts back below one cent after it traded above that level on Friday.

The declines in the soybean product prices combined with a rally in soybean futures to push the board crush margin for the January contracts down…