KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures extended losses on Monday, coming off last week’s two-week high, as weakness in overseas soybean oil prices lured buyers away from the tropical oil.
Palm’s rival soy fell sharply on Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade on expectations of a bumper U.S. crop this fall. Dalian prices slipped a percent on the day and looked set to extend their losses this week.
Benchmark palm oil futures for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 2.2 percent to 2,268 ringgit ($560) per tonne at the close of trade, an intraday and near one-week low.
Traded volumes stood at 33,690 lots of 25 tonnes each on Monday evening, compared with the 2015 average of 44,600.
“The decline is due to soybean oil prices, which came off sharply on Friday,” said a futures trader from Kuala Lumpur, adding that export demand did little to lift prices despite improving data from cargo surveyors.
“The pipeline is dry, so they are buying to have some oil in hand. It’s not serious buying, but the figures are good in comparison to June,” he said.
Reports from cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance showed exports of Malaysian palm oil products from July 1-25 rose about 15 percent from the same time period last month, led by improved demand from Europe and China.
June exports from the world’s second largest palm oil producer were at a low base, declining 11.7 percent from May, as demand fell after the Muslim festive season of Ramadan and Eid, official data from government body the Malaysian Palm Oil Board showed earlier this month. <MYPOME-PO>
Palm oil may fall more to 2,258 ringgit, as support at 2,302 ringgit does not seem to hold, said Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals Wang Tao.
The Chicago soybean oil contract for December declined 1 percent, while the January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange declined 1.9 percent.
Reuters
Following are Indonesian prices for crude palm oil (CPO) quoted at an auction by PT KPB Nusantara (formerly known as the state marketing centre) on Wednesday. Buyer Volume Price Terms
(tonnes) (Rp/kg) Permata Hijau Palm Oleo 2000 7344 FOB Belawan SMART 2000 7344 FOB Belawan Permata Hijau Palm Oleo 2000 7344 Ex fact Medan SMART 2000 7344 Ex fact Medan SMART 1500 7344 FOB Belawan
Nagamas Palmoil Lestari 1000 7344 FOB Dumai
Total volume offered 10500 Total volume traded 10500 Previous volume auctioned 5000 Previous top price 7433. – Reuters
