$International General Insurance (IGIC.US)$ Palm oil futures prices will continue to rise before starting to fall in March, as Indonesia increases export taxes and supplies are expected to tighten early next year, Dorab Mistry, a global vegetable oil analyst and director of Godrej International, an Indian consumer goods company, said Saturday.
Palm oil prices have soared, hitting 4,665 ringgit ($1,114) as supplies of palm oil and its substitutes tightened due to the spread of the virus. At one point, palm oil was up nearly 25% this year and is up more than 23% this quarter.
Palm oil is the vegetable oil with the largest production, consumption and international trade volume in the world. It can be refined and extracted into products with different melting points, which are widely used in catering industry, food industry and grease chemical industry. Global palm oil production is mainly distributed in Southeast Asia and Africa, with Indonesia, Malaysia and Nigeria being the world's top three producers.