Fund Spreading and Export Concerns Weigh on Nearby Futures

Vegetable oil futures were mixed on Monday as concerns about rising output in Malaysia and surging coronavirus cases in India pressured nearby contracts. At the same time, liquidation of bull spreads supported deferred contracts. Technically driven selling in the benchmark soybean oil contract above the life-of-contract high also weighed on nearby futures. Despite the weakness in the nearby palm and soybean oil markets, Chinese vegetable oil markets posted gains of more than 3/4 percent.

The decline in the nearby soybean oil contract was slightly smaller than in palm oil, driving the spread between May contracts marginally higher to 10.29 cents per pound. However, the declines in deferred soybean oil contracts narrowed the spreads, with the July spread dropping to 13.17 cents and the September spread falling to 11.53…