MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Oil Eases To One-week Low; Ramadan Demand Caps Losses
VEGOILS-Palm Oil Eases To One-week Low; Ramadan Demand Caps Losses
22/06/2013 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell to a one-week low on Friday, tracking a selloff in global markets, although rising demand and a weak ringgit provided
support and capped losses.
Investors avoided taking risky positions in the tropical oil after equities and commodities markets fell sharply on the U.S. Federal Reserve's plan to scale back its economic stimulus.
But supportive fundamentals, with Malaysia's palm exports rising as much as 16 percent for the June 1-20 period compared to a month ago, trimmed weekly losses and the edible oil ended just one ringgit lower from a week ago.
"It's mostly overseas factors today. Global markets were down and this has a strong impact on crude palm oil. It gave traders an excuse to sell and consolidate," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
"But the market is supported in the short-term as we still have strong Ramadan demand," the trader said.
During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which falls in July this year, communal feasting typically drives up consumption.
The benchmark September contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 1 percent to close at 2,438 ringgit ($761) per tonne. Prices earlier fell to 2,421 ringgit, a level last seen on June 14.
Total traded volume stood at 24,029 lots of 25 tonnes each, lower than the average usual 35,000 lots.
Traders said a weak ringgit could spur more purchases of crude palm oil, pushing exports higher for the month. The ringgit-priced feedstock becomes cheaper for overseas buyers and refiners when the currency fall against the U.S. dollar.
The ringgit lost nearly 3 percent against the dollar this week, with the greenback rallying on the prospect of the Fed tapering it bond-buying programme.
Higher shipments would ease Malaysian palm oil stocks further in June after a decline to 1.82 million tonnes at end-May, the lowest in nearly a year.
In other markets, Brent crude rose to near $103 a barrel as some investors returned to oil, a day after a steep decline sparked by the Fed's plan to wind down its stimulus.
In vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for July edged down 0.2 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange lost 2.9 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1003 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUL3 2431 -26.00 2418 2437 387
MY PALM OIL AUG3 2447 -25.00 2433 2454 3252
MY PALM OIL SEP3 2438 -24.00 2421 2444 15318
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN4 5998 -232.00 5982 6100 781474
CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 7478 -224.00 7452 7632 873560
CBOT SOY OIL JUL3 48.32 -0.08 48.17 48.51 3138
NYMEX CRUDE AUG3 95.65 +0.51 94.70 95.84 24184
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
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1=3.202 ringgit)
support and capped losses.
Investors avoided taking risky positions in the tropical oil after equities and commodities markets fell sharply on the U.S. Federal Reserve's plan to scale back its economic stimulus.
But supportive fundamentals, with Malaysia's palm exports rising as much as 16 percent for the June 1-20 period compared to a month ago, trimmed weekly losses and the edible oil ended just one ringgit lower from a week ago.
"It's mostly overseas factors today. Global markets were down and this has a strong impact on crude palm oil. It gave traders an excuse to sell and consolidate," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
"But the market is supported in the short-term as we still have strong Ramadan demand," the trader said.
During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which falls in July this year, communal feasting typically drives up consumption.
The benchmark September contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 1 percent to close at 2,438 ringgit ($761) per tonne. Prices earlier fell to 2,421 ringgit, a level last seen on June 14.
Total traded volume stood at 24,029 lots of 25 tonnes each, lower than the average usual 35,000 lots.
Traders said a weak ringgit could spur more purchases of crude palm oil, pushing exports higher for the month. The ringgit-priced feedstock becomes cheaper for overseas buyers and refiners when the currency fall against the U.S. dollar.
The ringgit lost nearly 3 percent against the dollar this week, with the greenback rallying on the prospect of the Fed tapering it bond-buying programme.
Higher shipments would ease Malaysian palm oil stocks further in June after a decline to 1.82 million tonnes at end-May, the lowest in nearly a year.
In other markets, Brent crude rose to near $103 a barrel as some investors returned to oil, a day after a steep decline sparked by the Fed's plan to wind down its stimulus.
In vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for July edged down 0.2 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange lost 2.9 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1003 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUL3 2431 -26.00 2418 2437 387
MY PALM OIL AUG3 2447 -25.00 2433 2454 3252
MY PALM OIL SEP3 2438 -24.00 2421 2444 15318
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN4 5998 -232.00 5982 6100 781474
CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 7478 -224.00 7452 7632 873560
CBOT SOY OIL JUL3 48.32 -0.08 48.17 48.51 3138
NYMEX CRUDE AUG3 95.65 +0.51 94.70 95.84 24184
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
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1=3.202 ringgit)