February 7

2/7 - Soy-oil futures moved above $.65/lb last week and now look poised to challenge the record high of $.72 set in June 2021. Soy-oil averaged $.5815/lb last year, following a 6-year stretch (2015-2020) of averaging just $.3117. Unfortunately, $.60 is the new $.30. In a bid to stem domestic inflation, Indonesia, the world’s largest producer/exporter of palm oil, said that its producers must retain 20% of their planned exports for sale domestically at fixed prices. Palm oil represents 60% of world trade in veg-oils. At the same time, WTI crude oil futures hit a 7-year high of $92.31/bbl on Friday (2/4). Surging oil/gasoline demand, tight storage supplies, and too-slowly increasing OPEC production have forecasters predicting $100 per barrel crude for spring/summer. New biofuel initiatives mean that crude oil can (and will) drag soy-oil prices upward, likely to new record highs by summer.