The prices of most of the oils and fats studied in this paper have improved quite markedly in the past few years. As indicated in Figure 1 and Table 1, the prices of soyabean oil, refined bleached deodorized (RBD) palm olein, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, RBD palm stearin and tallow increased gradually from 2001 to 2004 (January to October). RBD palm olein, for instance, increased from USD 349 t-1 to USD 521 t-1 and soyabean oil from USD 338 t-1 to USD 627 t-1. Palm kernel oil and coconut oil also registered increases to USD 632 t-1 and USD 662 t-1, respectively. The same scenario applied for RBD palm stearin and tallow. The price of cottonseed oil, however, fluctuated – dropping in 2001 from 2000, then gradually increasing to USD 895 t-1 in 2003, its highest ever price, before dropping again in 2004 to USD 715 t-1.