Palm oil exports from the two key producers Malaysia and Indonesia are likely to rise in coming months despite current high palm oil prices, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World forecast. "Despite the recent strength, palm oil is still attractive related to soyaoil," it said.

 

"In fact its current very large discount relative to soyaoil is likely to result in very large purchases and global imports of palm oil in the medium term." Global supplies of sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, corn oil, groundnut (peanut) oil and cotton oil are all very tight and their prices are around record levels, it said.

 

"Consumers are reacting and have started to switch to more attractively priced palm oil and soyaoil," it said. "This trend is likely to continue and will result in sharp increases in palm oil exports from Malaysia and Indonesia," it said.

 

"The increasing biodiesel production in Argentina and Brazil will curb the growth in soyaoil export supplies. The US can only partly compensate for these losses." "The net result will be an additional shift in world vegetable oil import demand to palm oil."