Vegetable Oil & Biofuels • ASEAN Monitor
Vegetable Oil & Biofuel Blending Monitor
Weekly tracker covering wholesale vegetable oil benchmarks (CPO, soybean, sunflower), retail cooking oil prices across six ASEAN+ markets, and biodiesel blending mandates. Thematically linked to UCO-based biofuel feedstock trade and EU import dependencies.
Updated 24 May 2026
CPO
$1,103
USD/mt • Mar 26
Soybean Oil
$1,482
USD/mt • Mar 26
Sunflower Oil
$1,739
USD/mt • Mar 26
Wholesale benchmark prices
Monthly, USD per metric ton. Last 5 years.
Retail cooking oil prices
Consumer-facing cooking oil prices across six ASEAN+ markets. Prices in local currency per litre, collected from retailer websites and in-store visits.
| Product | Store | Price | /Litre | USD/L | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sania Palm Oil Pouch 1L(palm) | Alfamart | IDR 21,600 | 21,600 | $1.22 | May 26 |
| MinyaKita (govt subsidised) 1L(palm) | HET ceiling price, nationwide | IDR 15,700 | 15,700 | $0.89 | Apr 26 |
| Tropical Palm Oil 1L bottle(palm) | Alfamart | IDR 25,500 | 25,500 | $1.44 | Apr 26 |
| Product | Store | Price | /Litre | USD/L | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yok Palm Oil 1L(palm) | Lotus's | THB 49 | 49 | $1.50 | May 26 |
| Morakot Palm Oil 1L(palm) | Lotus's | THB 50 | 50 | $1.53 | May 26 |
| Gaysorn Palm Olein 2L(palm) | Lotus's | THB 96 | 48 | $1.47 | May 26 |
| Product | Store | Price | /Litre | USD/L | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saji Refined Palm Oil 1kg(palm) | Jaya Grocer | MYR 6.9 | 6.27 | $1.58 | May 26 |
| Subsidised polypack (harga kawalan) 1kg(palm) | KPDNHEP controlled price | MYR 2.5 | 2.27 | $0.57 | May 26 |
| Cap Buruh Pure Palm Oil 1kg(palm) | ManaMurah.com avg | MYR 6.88 | 6.25 | $1.57 | Feb 26 |
| Product | Store | Price | /Litre | USD/L | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UFC Golden Fiesta Palm Oil 1L pouch(palm) | SM Markets | PHP 134.5 | 134.5 | $2.18 | May 26 |
| Minola Palm Olein 925ml(palm) | Citimart | PHP 98.85 | 106.86 | $1.73 | May 26 |
| National average cooking oil 1L(composite) | PSA Price Situationer | PHP 196.45 | 196.45 | $3.19 | Apr 26 |
| Product | Store | Price | /Litre | USD/L | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good Meall Refined Palm Olein 1L(palm) | Bách Hóa Xanh | VND 47,000 | 47,000 | $1.79 | May 26 |
| Neptune Light Premium 1L(palm) | Bách Hóa Xanh | VND 61,000 | 61,000 | $2.33 | May 26 |
| Simply Soybean Oil 1L(soybean) | LOTTE Mart | VND 65,900 | 65,900 | $2.51 | May 26 |
| Product | Store | Price | /Litre | USD/L | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arawana (金龙鱼) Soybean Oil 5L(soybean) | Suning / supermarkets | CNY 55.9 | 11.18 | $1.64 | Jan 26 |
| Fulinmen (福临门) Non-GMO Soybean Oil 5L(soybean) | Supermarkets | CNY 79.9 | 15.98 | $2.35 | Jan 26 |
| Luhua (鲁花) 5S Peanut Oil 5L(peanut) | Darunfa / supermarkets | CNY 149.9 | 29.98 | $4.40 | Jan 26 |
Prices collected from retailer websites, government price data, and in-store visits. USD conversions at Xe.com mid-market rates from 2026-05-24. Exchange rates and prices updated weekly.
Production and global context
Global vegetable oil production reached 234.5 million metric tons in 2025/26. Palm oil (80.4 MMT) and soybean oil (70.8 MMT) together account for nearly two-thirds of global supply. Of all vegetable oil produced, roughly 18% now goes to biofuel rather than food.
Global production by oil type (MMT, 2025/26)
Production by monitored country
| Country | Main oil | MMT | Global % | To biofuel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indonesia | palm | 47 | 58% | 30% | B40 mandate absorbs ~14 MMT. B50 target would push to 35-40%. |
| Malaysia | palm | 19.2 | 24% | 8% | B10 mandate, B20 pilots only in Sarawak/Labuan/Langkawi. |
| Thailand | palm | 3.5 | 4% | 15% | B5-B7 mandate. Small producer, mostly self-sufficient. |
| Philippines | coconut | 1.1 | 51% | 5% | B3 (CME) mandate suspended. 51% of global coconut oil. |
| Vietnam | palm (imported) | 0.1 | — | — | Only 39% self-sufficient. No biodiesel mandate. Imports ~1.3 MMT palm oil. |
| China | soybean | 20 | 28% | — | Crushes 103 MMT imported soybeans. No biodiesel mandate. Focus on SAF. |
Food vs fuel
Globally, 18% of all vegetable oil now goes to biofuel, up from 8% in 2010. The diversion varies sharply by oil type: 49% of US soybean oil goes to renewable diesel, 58% of EU rapeseed oil goes to biodiesel, and 30% of Indonesian palm oil is absorbed by the B40 mandate. Indonesia's move to B50 would divert an additional 5 MMT of palm oil from food markets, tightening supply for the cooking oil tracked on this page.
Sources: USDA FAS Oilseeds Circular, USDA ERS Oil Crops Outlook, OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2025-2034.
Biodiesel blending mandates
Current and planned biodiesel blending requirements across six ASEAN+ economies. Blending mandates directly affect palm oil and other vegetable oil demand, linking energy policy to edible oil markets and consumer prices.
| Country | Current | % | Feedstock | Planned | Target | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indonesia | B40 | 40% | palm oil | B50 | late 2026 | B35 implemented Jan 2023, B40 from Feb 2025. B50 field testing underway but target date has shifted multiple times. |
| Thailand | B5-B7 | 7% | palm oil | B10 | — | Reduced from B7 to B5 in Nov 2025 due to rising palm oil costs. B7/B20 available as options. Also mandating E20 gasoline. SAF mandate 1% from 2026, rising to 8% by 2036. |
| Malaysia | B10 | 10% | palm oil | B15 | 2025-2026 | B20 pilots in Sarawak, Labuan, Langkawi only. Nationwide B20 repeatedly delayed due to insufficient refinery capacity. Transitioning to B12, then B15 before full B20. |
| Philippines | B3 | 3% | coconut (CME) | suspended | — | B4 and B5 mandates suspended indefinitely as of July 2025 due to high coconut oil prices (US$2,900+/ton). Uses coconut methyl ester (CME), not palm biodiesel. |
| Vietnam | none | 0% | n/a | none confirmed | — | No biodiesel blending mandate and no confirmed plans to introduce one. Government biofuel policy is focused on ethanol (separate page). |
| China | none | 0% | n/a | none national | — | No national biodiesel blending mandate. Regional promotion trials in 22 provinces but national blend never exceeded 0.3%. Policy focus on SAF and marine biofuels, not road diesel. |
Sources: Nikkei Asia, May 2026; Government Regulation; Ministry of Energy; Thai Department of Energy Business; Malaysian Palm Oil Board; Ministry of Plantation and Commodities; Department of Energy Philippines; PSA; Government Resolution; Ministry of Industry and Trade; USDA FAS; industry reports.
Data note
Wholesale benchmark prices are fetched weekly from FRED (sunflower oil, IMF Primary Commodity Prices series) and IndexMundi (CPO and soybean oil). CPO benchmark is "Palm oil (Malaysia), 5% bulk, c.i.f. N.W. Europe" in USD per metric ton. Retail prices are a mix of automated scraping (Indonesia, Philippines) and manual entries (Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, China). Blending mandate data is manually curated from government regulations and industry reports.
The connection between biodiesel mandates and cooking oil prices is direct: higher blending targets (e.g. Indonesia's B40 to B50 trajectory) divert palm oil from food to fuel, tightening supply and pushing up retail prices. This dynamic is central to UCO-based biofuel economics and EU feedstock import dependencies tracked on the biofuel feedstock imports page.