Since the start of May, U.S. Gulf physical palm oil prices have fallen 8.5 percent in value. Prices are down about 50 percent from the record highs hit in early March 2022. The decline in the cash market over the last three weeks ocurred alongside another volatile period for palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Exchange. The benchmark palm oil contract rolled back from a level just shy of 3,900 ringgit per tonne in early April to 3,600 ringgit per tonne by the end of that month. Since then, the contract has been rangebound between close to 3,400 ringgit per tonne and 3,700 ringgit per tonne, settling today at the lower end of that range.

Figure 1.

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