Palm oil sector the one to watch for indicators for El Nino and oilseeds in 2016; details at Oilseed Congress

- BARCELONA, Spain, Dec. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Oilseed price levels are at a six-year low and soybean prices are down more than 52 percent from their 2012 peak. Will the decline continue? What impact will El Niño have on major origins of oilseeds and feed grains? Keynote speaker David Hightower will address these issues and more at the Oilseed Congress Europe/MENA in Barcelona, Spain, 9-10 February 2016, at the Hilton Barcelona. Speaking further on the 2016 outlook for oilseeds, Hightower said, "Early warning signs indicate that El Niño should manifest in the coming weeks in Malaysia and Indonesia, potentially impacting oilseed prices. Additionally, the renewed implementation of soybean oil, palm oil and other vegetable oils for biodiesel could lead to a bottoming in oilseed prices in 2016." Hightower will address this issue, and other imperative indicators in the oilseed sector, during his presentation on day two of the conference. On the first day of the event, Thomas Mielke, editor-in-chief of OIL WORLD and foremost authority on the oilseed complex, will present his Global Overview of the Oilseed Market, and discuss the oil and oilmeal price prospects for 2016. Mielke will elaborate on the prospective tightness in palm oil caused by the lagged effects of the drought registered in 2015 as a result of El Niño. "With yields per hectare declining in several regions of Indonesia and Malaysia, and with Indonesian biodiesel production recovering, world exports of palm oil are likely to decline in calendar year 2016," said Mielke. "This comes on top of the tightness in rapeseed oil and will raise global dependence on soya oil. But soybeans are primarily a 'meal seed' and cannot solve a vegetable oil supply tightness without creating a surplus in oilmeals." Hightower has over 35 years of experience in the commodity and financial futures industry and is president of The Hightower Report, a commodity research and information firm specializing in high quality futures research and analysis. Mielke joined OIL WORLD, which is recognized worldwide as the independent, authoritative and unbiased information provider for oilseeds, oils and oil meals, in the mid-1970s, and since 2002 has served as executive director of ISTA Mielke GmbH in Hamburg, Germany, where OIL WORLD is produced. Learn more about the Congress, hosted by HighQuest Group and sponsored by CME Group and SGS, at www.oilseedcongress.com.