Spot palm oil and products markets continued to move higher on Wednesday due mostly to ongoing strength in palm oil futures in Malaysia, traders said. U.S. Gulf palm oil and palm olein price assessments crossed above 52 cents per pound to levels not seen since May 2023. Palm oil values in the region climbed about two cents from last week.

The benchmark May palm oil futures contract closed in on 4,200 ringgit per tonne on Wednesday, to settle up 66 ringgit per tonne at a one-year high of 4,195 ringgit per tonne. Robust crude oil prices, a weaker ringgit against the U.S. dollar, and lingering worries of tighter stocks all supported palm oil values. 

The palm oil price rally has caused many in the feed and oleochemical sectors to move into the cheaper animal fats markets. The lower price of tallow, for example, compared to palm oil has led to some livestock reformulations.

On the CME, U.S. soybean oil…