Fat prices in the Australian market are up from the week prior. Despite the downturn in the palm market, tallow prices remain well valued, and demand from China has been consistent. COVID-19 mitigation lockdowns ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday threaten to limit interest before the market goes quiet, but there are reports of pipeline building happening at present. Cattle slaughter remains well under year prior levels but did increase marginally from the week prior. Poor cattle margins and favorable pasturing conditions are apt to keep cattle out of the abattoirs and continue to limit the supply of tallow available to the market. Trading out of New Zealand was higher on sales into Taiwan and China.

UCO trading into the EU moved higher again on big demand, both from the EU market and for the global UCO market as a whole. Competition in the interior US has pushed prices to a high of $1100/MT delivered port. Trading into the interior is as high as $1035/MT delivered for bulk…