06/03/2012 (The Star) - The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives will remain steady this week with the spotlight on the Bursa Malaysia Palm Oil Conference (POC) here, dealers said.

He said in the earlier part of the week, the market will be quiet with players focused on the POC.

“But later on, it is expected to see some support with a bullish view from analysts, during the conference,” he added.

On the demand side, he said it would continue to be strong as China is piling up stocks in anticipation of the price strengthening in the future, due to a shortage of the CPO substitute, soybean oil.

He expects the CPO price to hover around the RM3,230 to RM3,250 per tonne levels.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, March 2012 advanced RM3 to RM3,235 per tonne, while April 2012 dropped RM10 to RM3,250 per tonne and May 2012 slipped RM17 to RM3,259 per tonne while June 2012 fell RM16 to RM3,256 per tonne.

Turnover for the week decreased to 107,128 lots and open interest rose to 123,480 contracts.

On the physical market, March South decreased RM10 to RM3,230 per tonne from the RM3,240 recorded previously.