Palm Oil Prices Rally, Soy Oil Sells-Off on Expected RVO Announcement

Vegetable oil prices were mixed on Tuesday, as palm oil futures surged close to four percent, while soybean oil markets sold off. Funds took profits and liquidated long oil share positions even though crude oil prices climbed sharply for a second day. January West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures finished 4.6 percent higher atop $72.00 per barrel (+3.23) as worries over the Omicron coronavirus variant continued to wane, traders said.

The soybean oil market sold off on reports the Biden Administration would announce today not only $700 million in Covid-related grants to the biofuel industry but also the long-awaited and what has proven to be, lower blending mandates for 2020 (retroactively) and 2021.  Benchmark soybean oil futures ended 1.3 percent lower (January 2022 contract -76 basis points per pound) on the news. Contracts at the back end of the curve were…