FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index averaged 163.1 points in January

The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index averaged 163.1 points in January, virtually unchanged from December.

"Moderate rises in palm oil values were outweighed by weakening prices for other oils, notably sunflower and rapeseed oils. International palm oil quotations strengthened as global import demand picked up just when seasonal production declines were looming in Southeast Asia," the message says.

It is also noted that rapeseed oil prices were pressured by both excess supplies in the EU and larger than expected availabilities in North America and Australia, while those of sunflower oil were affected by sluggish global import demand.

Earlier it was reported that Ukraine in 2017 exported 5.76 million tons of sunflower oil for the amount of USD 4.3 billion.