Welcome to 2016

Happy 2016 to one and all.

This year starts no easier than last year finished. Crude oil price has been moving up today as instability between Iran and Saudi Arabia has caused concern in the market that the region has new issues. The market is also looking closely at Palm oil stocks at the end of 2015 to see if they have risen again. Despite ‘El Nino’ threatening crops the low crude oil prices has been hitting demand for Palm. Previously crude oil prices had been expected to remain weak throughout 2016 as supply glut continues. It will be interesting to see what effect these increases in crude oil have on edible oils. There is also concern that America’s economy is slowing which will also impact upon demand. Coconut oil has been drifting up as shortages in crops caused by dry conditions last year really start to bite.

Desiccated prices are likely to move up during the early part of January as oil prices move up slightly. How much and how quickly will depend on the raw nut shortages that started before the holidays and if they ease now farmers are returning to work. With so much instability in edible oil prices its hard to say where prices will go.