Soybean Oil Locks Limit Down as Volatility Soars

Soybean oil prices plunged on Thursday, with the front contract locking limit down three days after it locked limit-up. Once again, there was no obvious news driving the volatility. However, a sharp decline in crude oil prices and a decline in palm oil prices overnight may have contributed to the bearish tone. Fund liquidation of long oil share and bull spreads within the soybean oil curve also likely drove some of the selling.

The sharp decline in soybean oil futures drove the spreads between the May and July soybean oil and palm oil contracts sharply lower. The May contract fell by about 1.7 cents to just over 11 cents, while the July contract dropped about 1.3 cents to 11.3 cents per pound. The spreads settled on the lows of the day, but the May spread traded over 13 cents for the third time in the last three days. However,…