Rising Palm Oil Prices and El Niño

After experiencing an El Niño-related drought in 2016, Southeast Asian palm oil producers are still struggling to catch up with growing global demand. Given rising incomes in emerging markets, expanding biodiesel mandates, and climbing consumer use, global demand for palm oil is expanding by over 3 percent and pushing projected ending stocks to a multi-year low. In light of this supply-demand backdrop, traders are anticipating that palm oil prices will remain on an upward trend in early 2017, however buoyant prices may not stay in place if production finally roars back. You can stay up on current dynamics in the palm oil markets here