Stable oil prices support vegetable oil quotations

Last week, oil prices dropped due to the easing of tensions in the Middle East, but this week they rose amid data on the US economy, a decline in US oil inventories, and increased demand for vegetable oils used in biodiesel production.

According to S&P Global, in April, business activity in the United States fell to a 4-month low, which led to a decline in the dollar. Typically, in such periods, investors look for alternative assets, so demand for oil is growing.

June futures for Brent crude oil on the London ICE Futures exchange on Monday rose by 0.8% to $88 per barrel (+2.3% for the month), and May futures for WTI on the New York NYMEX – by 0.7% to $82.8 per barrel (+1.7% for the month).

According to the EIA weekly report, as of April 19, crude oil stocks in the US decreased by 6.37 million barrels, although analysts had expected them to grow by 2 million barrels. At the same time, distillate stocks increased by 1.6 million barrels, and gasoline stocks decreased by 634 thousand barrels, while they were expected to decrease by 1.75 million barrels. Crude oil production in the United States during April 13-19 remained at 13.1 million barrels per day, which is slightly lower than the recent record of 13.3 million barrels per day.

According to Baker Hughes, the number of active oil rigs in the US increased by 5 units to a 7-month high of 511 units during April 13-19, which will allow for an increase in production in the near future.

In April, after attacks by Ukrainian drones, Russian refineries reduced oil refining to an annual minimum of 5.23 million tons per day. At night, Ukrainian drones attacked two oil depots in the Smolensk region.

Despite the decline in exports, June palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia exchange remain stable at 3,940 ringgit/t or $825/t (-1.8% for the week, -9.5% for two weeks), supported by high oil prices and the heat wave in Malaysia.

the May futures for soybean oil on the Chicago stock exchange after rising on Monday yesterday fell to 982 $/t (-0.9% for the week, -6.6% for two weeks) amid increased harvesting in Argentina and increased soybean processing.

According to Trading Economics, the average price of sunflower oil for delivery to buyers during the week remained at 868 $/t (-0.6% for two weeks), in particular in Ukraine amounted to 790-800 $/t with delivery to the ports of the Black Sea.

the Unblocking of the border with Poland has increased the demand for Ukrainian sunflower oil from Polish producers of biodiesel, which offer for it 840-860 $/t with delivery to Poland, which exceeds the price of edible oil. At the same time, Bulgarian buyers are reducing demand prices.

Tags: sunflower oil, prices, edible oils