Palm oil and soybean oil futures ended sharply higher on Friday, as traders covered positions ahead of next week’s RVO announcement from the U.S. EPA. The big market feature heading into the day was the release of the USDA’s May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE). The report, however, proved to be a rather dull one for soybeans and the byproducts.

The agency made marginal changes to its U.S. 2022/23 ending soybean and soybean oil supply/ demand estimates but held steady mostly of its projections for 2023/24. U.S. soybean oil inventories are still expected to end the current marketing year at 1.991 million pounds and 2023/24 at 1.936 million pounds. For 2023/24, U.S. soybean oil exports remain eyed at 600 million pounds, and the average forecast price for soybean oil in Decatur was unchanged at 58 cents per pound, down from an estimate of 64 cents per pound in 2022/23.

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