The FAO’s vegetable oil price index has been rising steadily for the past year, reaching a 13-year high in June, according to a report by the Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP).
Reaching an average value of 174.7 points in May, this represented an increase of just less than 8% month-on-month and around 224% compared to the same month the previous year, the 16 June report said.
Palm oil prices also continued their upward trend in May 2021, reaching their highest level since February 2011, according to the report, with the slow growth in production in southeast Asia failing to keep up with rising global demand.
Soyabean oil had benefitted from strong global demand, especially from the US biodiesel sector, while rapeseed oil prices had been boosted by the continued tightness of global supply, UFOP said.
The FAO's vegetable oil price index illustrates the changes in international prices of the 10 most important vegetable oils in world trade, weighted according to their export shares.
