Rapeseed oil prices shooting upwards

In Germany, UFOP reports that wholesale prices for rapeseed oil and palm oil have been moving in opposite directions for 7 months. The price difference between rapeseed oil fob Germany and palm oil cif Rotterdam rose from 87 EUR/t to more than 300 EUR/t between April and the end of October. Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft mbH (AMI) last noted such an unusually large gap in December 2012. The main reason, according to UFOP, for this uneven price development lies in differing supply-side trends: rapeseed oil is in demand and is scarce due to low harvest levels; palm oil supply, on the other hand, is plentiful.

In contrast, demand for palm oil has gradually weakened and hit a three-year low at the end of October. This was triggered by rising inventories in producer countries as a result of scant exports. Production was at times lower than during the same period last year. Companies in the food and chemical industries that process palm oil will benefit from this downward price trend.