Vegetable oil price commentary: CPO rebounds on Friday on bargain buying; CME soyoil down on crush data

The most-active July CPO futures contract rose by 0.55% to close at 4,417 ringgit ($1,119) per tonne, after trading between 4,370-4,444 ringgit per tonne, with the contract giving up some of the gains made earlier in the day when it closed at 4,436 ringgit per tonne at the midday break. 

On a weekly basis, the most active third-month CPO futures contract has fallen by 1.95% from last Friday’s settlement of 4,505 ringgit per tonne, with pressure coming from prospects of higher supply, sluggish destination demand and movements in related vegetable oils.

Gains in palm futures were capped by weaker Chinese vegetable oil futures, with the most-active September palm olein contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange down by 0.63% to 9,420 yuan ($1,382) per tonne, while the corresponding soybean oil contract declined by 1.33% to 8,435 yuan per tonne.

Rapeseed oil futures on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) also fell by 176 yuan per tonne to 9,537 yuan per tonne.

The Malaysian ringgit depreciated by 0.44% against the US dollar to its weakest in just over a week, making palm oil relatively cheaper for overseas buyers and lending support to prices.

Lower Malaysian exports also limited the upside for CPO futures, with cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services (ITS) reporting exports at 600,175 tonnes versus 609,868 tonnes in April 1-15, down by 9,693 tonnes, or 1.59%, while AmSpec reported exports at 502,228 tonnes versus 601,401 tonnes previously, down 99,173 tonnes, or 16.49%.

Malaysia has also set the June CPO reference price at 4,372.64 ringgit per tonne, down by 149.25 ringgit per tonne from May’s 4,521.89 ringgit per tonne, which effectively keeps the export tax rate for Malaysia CPO in June at 10%. 

In the cash market, Indonesian CPO for June shipment was offered around $1,190-1,200 per tonne FOB Indonesia, with bids heard at $1,175-1,180 per tonne FOB Indonesia.

Indonesia olein offers for May shipment were heard at $1,132.50 per tonne FOB, while June shipment was offered at $1,135 per tonne FOB Indonesia against bids at $1,115-1,125 per tonne FOB.

Olein was also traded to China at $1,155 per tonne CFR for June-shipment, while an unconfirmed trade at $1,184 per tonne CFR was also reported for November shipment. 

For India, CPO offers for June shipment were indicated around $1,240 per tonne CFR west coast India (WCI), with buying ideas at $1,220-1,230 per tonne CFR WCI while indicative offers for May-shipment cargoes were also around $1,240 per tonne CFR WCI.

Soybean oil market

Soybean oil offers, meanwhile, were around $1,280 per tonne CFR WCI for June shipment and $1,255-1,265 per tonne CFR WCI for June-September shipment, with buying ideas around $1,245 per tonne CFR WCI, while offers for October-December shipment soybean oil were at $1,260 per tonne CFR WCI.

In the Americas, CME soyoil futures traded lower on Friday, after data showed a decline in US soybean crush in April. Higher soymeal added a negative tone.

The most-active July CME soybean oil contract fell by 0.30% day on day to 73.88 cents per lb.

US soybean crush dropped in April to 211.86 million bushels, down by 6.3% from 226.16 million bu in March, according to monthly figures released by the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) on Friday.

Despite strong crush margins, the April crush came in below market expectations of 214 million bu. Many crushers reportedly started to idle their facilities in April for planned maintenance and repairs, market participants said, and this contributed to the lower crush. Still, the April crush figure was up by 11% from the same month in 2025.

Soybean oil stockpiles among NOPA members, whose members process about 99% of US soybeans, fell on the month in April to a total of 1.947 billion lbs. This was down by more than 4% from 2.039 billion lbs in March. However, the April stock figure was up by 28% on the year.

Domestic crush capacity has expanded rapidly since 2021 to record-high levels through facility upgrades and the construction of new plants to meet growing consumption of soybean oil from the US biofuel sector.

Soymeal futures

Meanwhile, CME soymeal futures traded with gains, despite lower soybeans and corn prices on Friday.

The USDA said that private exporters reported sales of 155,000 tonnes of soybean cake and meal for delivery to Italy during the 2025/2026 marketing year. 

The sale to Italy comes after rumors mid-week that a cargo with US soymeal bound to Italy was redirected to another destination over quality issues. A recent bout of questioning from the European Union of South American soymeal vessels over the presence of non-authorized GMO had raised hopes of increased US sales to Italy. Independent analyst Terry Reilly also mentioned soymeal gains were also due to long oil share profit taking.

The most-active July CME soymeal contract rose by 0.54% day on day to $334.30 per short ton. 

In the physical market in South America, Fastmarkets heard at least 1,000 tonnes of Argentine soyoil for June loading traded at a discount of 20.5 cents per lb to July futures, and 2,000 tonnes of Argentine soyoil for July loading traded at a discount of 21 cents per lb to July futures.

Fastmarkets also heard a rumor of a paper trade of at least 1,000 tonnes of Brazilian soyoil at a discount of 20.4 cents per lb to July futures.

The June basis in Argentina was assessed at a discount of 20.5 cents per lb to July futures, up by 1 cent per lb day on day, while the corresponding basis in Brazil was assessed at a discount of 20.2 cents per lb to July futures, up by 0.8 cents per lb from the previous assessment, considering the rumoured trade and firmer bids toward the end of the day.

In the soymeal front, the June basis in Brazil was unchanged compared with the previous assessment, at a discount of $2.50 per short ton to July futures.

In Argentina, the corresponding soymeal basis was also unchanged compared with the previous price, at a discount of $0.50 per short ton to the same futures contract.

As of 5:40pm Central European time, Euronext August rapeseed futures were trading at €518 ($602) per tonne, up by €1 per tonne from the last market close.

FOB Rotterdam rapeseed oil (RSO) prices were largely steady on the day, recording only minimal changes down the curve on Friday amid mixed direction in the wider vegetable oils complex.

Underlying crude oil prices remained supportive, rising on the day amid stalled US–Iran peace discussions, with additional support coming from firmer European rapeseed futures in Paris. 

Even so, RSO activity was limited, with no new trades heard in the open at the time of publishing. 

For June, offers were heard at €1,230 per tonne, with bids at €1,210-1,215 per tonne, while offers for July were indicated at €1,205-1,210 per tonne, with bids at €1,170 per tonne. 

For August-September-October (ASO) shipment, offers were reported at €1,133-1,135 per tonne, with bids at €1,125-1,126 per tonne, while offers for November-December-January (NDJ) 2027 were indicated at €1,133-1,135 per tonne, with buy-side interest also at €1,125-1,126 per tonne. 

Prices for FOB sunflower oil (SFO) across six EU ports were also broadly steady along the curve, recording marginal downward moves in forward periods, as SFO activity remained stalled with no fresh demand reported from buyers.

SFO offers for June were reported at $1,495-1,505 per tonne, with bids at $1,480 per tonne, while offers for July-August-September (JAS) were indicated at $1,495-1,505 per tonne, with buy-side interest also at $1,480 per tonne. 

Down the curve, October-November-December (OND) offers were reported at $1,375-1,390 per tonne, with bids at $1,360 per tonne, but with no new trades heard out in the open. 

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