Why cooking oil prices are surging
Vegetable oil prices have surged over the last few months, as the war in Ukraine drove up their already rising costs. Why it matters: The situation is worse now. Indonesia said it would suspend exports of palm oil this week, sending markets for cooking oils into chaos, as Bloomberg reported. The country is the world’s largest supplier of the commodity,
Why cooking oil prices are surging
Vegetable oil prices have surged over the last few months, as the war in Ukraine drove up their already rising costs.
Why it matters: The situation is worse now. Indonesia said it would suspend exports of palm oil this week, sending markets for cooking oils into chaos, as Bloomberg reported.
- The country is the world’s largest supplier of the commodity, a crucial cooking ingredient in India and other places around the world, as well as a key part of many processed foods.
- Palm oil accounts for 58% of all the oils traded in the world, said Joseph Glauber, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, who is tracking the current volatility in food prices. “It’s big.”
The bottom line: This is another factor driving up food prices and contributing to shortages for U.S. consumers — and a major issue for folks in poorer countries who rely on cooking oil as a source of crucial calories and, simply, to cook their food.