KUALA LUMPUR: Crude palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to hover between RM2,200 and RM2,300 per tonne this week, a trader said.

Interband Group senior palm oil trader Jim Teh said at this level, more physical buyers would be attracted to buy the edible oil while planters would also find it lucrative to plant oil palm.

“Malaysia’s palm oil exports declined in the first 15 days of this month. However, on a positive note, the country’s end-March inventory showed a drop of 10.9% to 2.17 million tonnes from 2.44 million tonnes recorded at end-February,” he told Bernama.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, May 2013 slipped RM44 to RM2,283 per tonne, June 2013 erased RM51 to RM2,294, July 2013 eased RM61 to RM2,296 and August’s settlement price stood at RM2,299.

Weekly turnover increased to 177,106 lots, from 148,548 the previous week, while open interest rose to 175,289 contracts, from 174,722, registered the previous Friday.

On the physical market, April South ended Friday RM40 lower at RM2,300 per tonne. – Bernama

Source : The Star