NEW YORK, April 30 — Indonesia’s decision to suspend palm oil exports in the face of domestic shortages has pushed vegetable oil prices to new highs, further tightening a market already on edge due to the war in Ukraine and global warming.
Palm oil is the most consumed vegetable oil in the world, and Indonesia accounts for 35 per cent of global exports, according to James Fry, chairman of LMC consulting firm. “It’s difficult to ration demand for food commodities with higher prices,” said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX Financial.
The United States and Brazil, the world’s two top soybean exporters, still have available stock, even though more shipments from the countries would only have a marginal impact on edible oil prices.