Palm Oil Prices Spike 10 percent; Soy Oil Sinks as Crude Oil Plunges

World edible oil prices were mixed on Wednesday, with palm oil futures surging ten percent after Indonesia announced it would further restrict exports of the tropical oil to combat high prices at home. Soybean oil prices in Chicago, however, sank on profit-taking and the liquidation of long oil share positions by funds. The soybean markets were pulled lower by a massive sell-off in energy prices after reports the United Arab Emirates planned to ask OPEC members to hike crude oil production.

The biggest news of the day though was the noon release of the USDA’s February World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), which, in the end, brought few surprises. USDA said the March WASDE was an initial assessment of the short-term impacts of Russia’s recent military action in Ukraine. The conflict has “significantly increased the uncertainty of agricultural supply and demand…