-- Chicago soybean oil futures rose for a fourth straight session on Friday, bringing weekly gains to more than 5%, due to elevated crude oil prices.
The July soybean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 0.51% to 74.92 cents per pound on Friday, the first trading day of May. The rise in soybean oil helped the corresponding soybean contract log a 0.21% increase to $11.98 per bushel.
Delays in Argentine soybean harvesting dampened concerns of surplus supply. Progress with its harvest reportedly advanced to 18.3% from last week's 10.2%, but remained way below the seasonal average of around 60%.
In Brazil, domestic prices remained firm despite a record crop, due to robust domestic and international demand, ADM Investor Services reported, citing Brazil's Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics, Cepea.
The Middle East conflict also continued to serve as a tailwind, as higher crude oil prices increased the competitiveness of biofuels and boosted soybean oil demand, Cepea reportedly said.
In the US, output of soybean oil used in biofuels reached a seven-month high at about 1.1 billion pounds in February, data from the Energy Information Administration showed. This also represents 44.34% of the total biodiesel feedstock, according to Barchart and ADM.
Ethanol prices on the NYMEX, meanwhile, dropped 1.59% to $2.01 per gallon on Thursday, reversing a 3% jump in the previous session due to a rise in weekly exports and declines in output and inventories.