January 11

1/11 – It’s been a wild year for soy-oil. CBOT futures prices, which started 2020 at $.3497/lb, plunged by 28.5% to a 14-yr low of $.2499 on 3/16/20. The soy-oil drop (due to biodiesel demand) was strongly affected by the historic collapse in crude oil futures, which dropped from $61.18 per barrel on 1/2/20 to negative numbers for a brief period in April. But soy-oil has come roaring back, closing at a 6-year high of $.4439/lb on Wednesday – up 77.6% from the March low. Due to tight global palm oil supplies, Chinese palm demand has spilled over into soy-oil and soybeans for crushing. Now, drought in S. America had affected both Brazilian and Argentine soybean output, putting further pressure on U.S. supplies. 2021 soy-oil forward contracts are averaging an 8-year high of $.4244/lb. Prices should remain firm until higher soybean, palm, and rapeseed kick in by Fall of 2021.