Palm oil rebounded as traders assessed the severity of Indonesia’s ban on cooking oil exports that sparked wild swings in the market.
Fears of a complete ban eased as Indonesia said it will only halt exports of RBD palm olein, a product that has been processed, while shipments of crude palm oil can continue. The move has threatened to tighten global vegetable oil supplies at a time of soaring food inflation fueled by the war in Ukraine.
“Supply will be tight until at least the year-end as top producer Indonesia implements moves to secure its own domestic supply,” said Rajesh Modi, a trader at Sprint Exim Pte in Singapore. “Any correction in the market will be a prompt to buy.”
Palm oil futures rose 2.9% to close at 6,411 ringgit ($1,472) a ton in Kuala Lumpur, the biggest gain in three weeks, after a volatile day of trading. Prices had gained as much as 7% Monday and slumped about 4%. Rival soybean oil rose 0.9% on Tuesday.
Indonesia imposed the ban just as the country that’s home to the world’s largest Muslim population heads into the Eid al-Fitr holiday. The local shortage of edible oil has led to street protests and become a key political issue for President Joko Widodo on concern it will push up other food prices as well.