Most industry players see prices of the oil, used in everything from chocolate to shampoo and biofuel, staying at elevated levels in 2020. Benchmark futures may average 2,600 ringgit a ton, the highest in three years, according to the median of 25 estimates in a Bloomberg survey of analysts, traders and plantation executives, versus an average of 2,240 ringgit this year.
KUALA LUMPUR: The tide appears to have turned for the world’s most-consumed edible oil.
Just five months ago, benchmark futures in Malaysia languished at four-year lows as investors fretted about stubbornly high stockpiles, waning demand from top buyers India and China and European restrictions that linked palm oil to environmental harm. Then in October, a trade spat between No. 2 producer Malaysia and India threatened to further hit sales and prices.
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