KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures were little changed in light trade on Thursday, stretching their losing streak into a fourth day due to a rise in the ringgit and higher stocks in the No.2 grower.
Data from regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board showed palm oil stocks last month swelled to their highest since November to stand at 2.24 million tonnes, overturning expectations that robust export demand would dent inventories.
The August palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange was nearly flat at 2,290 ringgit ($611.48) a tonne by the day’s close.
“The reliable support at 2,320 ringgit gave way and now it is checking the next support at 2,280 ringgit, which may break soon,” said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur, adding that a sell signal may be triggered if the price falls to 2,279 ringgit.
Traded volume was thin at 29,584 lots of 25 tonnes each, below the more usual 35,000 lots.
Analysts say the pace of shipments may cool in June ahead of the Muslim Ramadan festival that starts in the middle of the month.
“We expect the growth momentum to moderate this month as the bulk of stocking-up activity ahead of the Ramadan celebrations is likely to be completed,” Kenanga Investment Bank said.
“The higher soybean oil to CPO premium could serve as a demand catalyst, but we expect this to be temporary due to the ample supply of soybeans in the market,” the research house added.
Cargo surveyors on Wednesday reported that exports of Malaysian palm oil products for June 1-10 rose about 2 percent to between 468,975 and 473,307 tonnes compared to the May 1-10 period, signalling a slowdown in the surge in buying.
The Malaysian ringgit dropped Thursday to trade at 3.7450 per dollar by 1020 GMT. On Monday, the currency had slumped to 3.7680, the weakest in nine years.
In other markets, oil prices steadied on Thursday as a bullish report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) balanced a gloomy outlook from the World Bank, which cut its global economic growth forecast.
In competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. July soyoil contract was flat in late Asian trade, while the most active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 0.5 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1021 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUN5 0 +0.00 0 2284 0
MY PALM OIL JUL5 2281 -6.00 2276 2293 1886
MY PALM OIL AUG5 2290 -1.00 2280 2303 16382
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN6 5256 -8.00 5214 5286 823288
CHINA SOYOIL SEP5 5764 +28.00 5736 5782 363006
CBOT SOY OIL JUL5 33.87 -2.20 33.81 34.04 4207
INDIA PALM OIL JUN5 455.20 -2.20 453.10 457.80 998
INDIA SOYOIL JUN5 607.40 -0.15 605.80 607.70 8625
NYMEX CRUDE JUL5 60.89 -0.54 60.72 61.53 32119
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 3.7450 ringgit)
($1 = 6.2065 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 63.96 Indian rupees)
– Reuters
Source : The Star
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