National Biodiesel Board at loss to explain doubling of soy prices; reserves at high levels; blames speculators

“It’s not following any linear economic path,” Amber Pearson, a spokesperson for the National Biodiesel Board, told news.com as soy prices have doubled in the past two years, to 60 cents a pound. The NBB said that numerous plants had been idled by high prices, while Fred Tennant of PetroAlgae said “The numbers are impossible.” The NBB is at a loss to explain why prices have risen so dramatically when available stocks of soy are close to all time highs. “Maybe some of the (price increases) are due to speculations and futures markets,” Pearson said.

“I think you have a perfect storm of things coming together,” World Bank president Robert Zoellick told NPR. “You have high energy prices. You have the increase in demand from some of the developing countries. … As the Indian commerce minister said to me, going from one meal a day to two meals a day for 300 million people increases demand a lot.”

Leading the price rise was crude oil, which reached a record $120 yesterday. Crude palm oil reaching $1079 per tonne, soybeans at $13.56 per bushel for May delivery, wheat at $9.23 per bushel and corn at $5.94 per bushel for May delivery. A Goldman Sachs research report projected that soy prices would rise to $15.30 in six months, and that wheat would peak at $11.50 per bushel in the same time period.

Commenting on the oil market, Stephen Schork, president of the Schork Group, told Oil Voice that reported that “This is a market that’s being driven by speculation as much as it is by the fundamentals.”

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