Edible oil prices tumble on US ethanol plan and record soybean supplies

Global edible oil markets slid on Wednesday, as expectations for a record soybean crop in Brazil early next year and a new U.S. plan to allow gasoline sales with higher ethanol blending raised worries over vegetable oil demand, triggering a selloff. The prospect that Indonesia’s expanded biodiesel mandate may be implemented gradually added pressure on edible oil markets. Soybean oil prices traded in China dropped to a three-month low, while Malaysian palm oil futures lost more than 4% and U.S. bean oil BOcv1 slid 2.4%. “Vegetable oil complex is facing headwinds today as overall soybean supplies are likely to increase next year and there is a lack of clarity on implementation of biodiesel mandates in Indonesia,” said Pranav Bajoria, director at Singapore-based brokerage Comglobal Pte Ltd. “Indonesia’s plans to introduce B40 have been a key factor lifting prices in recent months. But Indonesian government has yet to allocate higher quotas for blending.” Forecasts of higher soybean ...