Vegetable Oils Rise on Bullish MPOB Data and Gains in Energy

Despite bearish United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) soybean supply and demand forecasts, which drove soybean futures more than two percent lower, soybean oil futures managed to settle about 1/2 percent higher. Overnight gains in palm oil futures supported soybean oil values. However, the relatively larger gains in palm oil futures drove the spread between the January contracts down to a fresh life-of-contracts low of almost 1 1/2 cents. A sharp rally in the energy complex, including a three percent increase in West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures, lent modest support to vegetable oil values.

USDA raised its forecast of 2020/21 U.S. soybean crush by 15 million bushels, increasing its prediction of soybean oil production by 175 million pounds. USDA offset a portion of the larger supply with a…