Spot vegetable oil markets closed out the week in relatively quiet fashion on Friday. On the day, price ranges were firm to slightly higher for the palm and lauric oils. For the week, U.S. Gulf Coast palm oil and olein cash prices moved up about a penny in the mid-40s.

Increased buying interest from major destination markets boosted palm oil and product prices over the summer. However, a subsequent drop in demand from two of the world’s largest buyers, China and India, caused values to quickly erode in the early fall. Since the beginning of January, Gulf Coast palm oil values have fallen from 54 cents per pound, or more than 15 percent. 

Figure 1.

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