FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index drops to five-month low

The FFPI tracks changes in the international prices of the most globally traded food commodities and the FAO’s Vegetable Oil Price Index illustrates changes in international prices of the 10 most important vegetable oils in world trade, weighted according to their export shares.

According to the 5 December report, the decline in the FAO’s Vegetable Oil Price Index was due to lower prices of palm, rapeseed and sunflower oils which more than offset a slight increase in soyabean oil quotations.

“International palm oil prices fell in November, resulting in a discount relative to competing oils, largely due to higher-than-expected production in Malaysia,” the FAO said.

Meanwhile, after several consecutive months of increases, rapeseed oil prices eased due to positive global production prospects, while sunflower oil quotations declined amid seasonally increasing supplies from the Black Sea region.

“Global soyabean oil prices remained steady and rose slightly, mainly supported by firm demand from the biodiesel sector, particularly in Brazil. Falling crude oil prices also contributed to lowering vegetable oil prices,” the FAO added.

The FFPI averaged 125.1 points in November, down 1.2% from the previous month’s revised value of 126.6 points, marking a third consecutive monthly decline.

Decreases in the prices for dairy products, meat, sugar and vegetable oils outweighed an increase in the cereal index.

Overall, the FFPI stood 2.6 points (2.1%) below its November 2024 level and remained 35.2 points (21.9%) lower than its peak in March 2022.

Tags: rapeseed oil, FAO, The Vegetable Oil Price Index, sunflower oil, prices, Production, palm oil