Olive oil remains the higher priced among the major vegetable oils. In fact, while the relative traded values of oils from rapeseed, palm and soybeans tend to move in tandem, olive oil stands out on its own for the premium it receives from the marketplace.  However, weather and agronomic factors aside, supply tends to expand or contract based on the relative reward obtained from buyers. In the case of olive area harvested, it has been expanding at twice the rate as rapeseed area and is on par with that of soybeans. With its lower relative price, the expansion in palm area has been in a league of its own, which likely accounts for part of the push by environmentalists to suppress it. Functionality of the individual oils is also a facto...

TAGS – Soy & Oilseeds, North America