Soybean Oil-Palm Oil Spread Falls to One-Month Low

On Wednesday, vegetable oil prices were mixed with palm oil rallying sharply while spreading drove soybean oil prices lower. The moves caused the spread between the May soybean oil and palm oil contracts to narrow by nearly 1 1/2 cents, leaving it at its narrowest level since January 19. The Jacobsen expects the spread to continue to narrow, but the recent decline has been faster than expected. A short-term bounce could drive the spread between May contracts back above six cents. If the spread continues to narrow, U.S. soybean oil export sales will likely accelerate, potentially raising expectations for 2020/21 U.S. shipments.

The spread between nearby soybean oil and heating oil contracts (HOBO) also narrowed, falling by nearly five cents per gallon to $1.73. Despite the decline, the short-term trend in the HOBO spread…