MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Oil Ends Up, Off 4-year Low; Posts Weekly Loss
VEGOILS-Palm Oil Ends Up, Off 4-year Low; Posts Weekly Loss
26/07/2013 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended higher on Friday as traders picked up deals after prices plumbed a near four-year low earlier in the session, although forecasts for higher global oilseed supplies continued to cap gains.
Palm oil prices dropped to their lowest since October 2009 amid worries ideal weather in the U.S. Midwest could lead to a record soybean harvest, boosting soyoil supplies and shifting demand away from the competing tropical oil.
"Today we see a little bit of retracement in an oversold market, as prices have been going down for the past three days due to the bearish grains complex," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
At market close, the benchmark October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had edged up 0.4 percent to 2,178 ringgit ($679) per tonne, after earlier falling to 2,137 ringgit, a level not seen since October 2009.
Total traded volume stood at 46,631 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the average 35,000 lots. Prices moved between 2,137 and 2,189 ringgit.
Palm oil posted a 3.5 percent drop this week, its fourth weekly loss in five, pressured by weakness in the soybean complex as buyers eye a bumper harvest and soft export demand.
Malaysian palm oil exports for July 1-25 fell 6-7 percent from the same period a month ago, showing a recovery from the steeper 24 percent drop seen in the first half of the month.Cargo surveyors will release export data for the full month on Wednesday.
"Exports should start to recover towards the end of the month, probably showing a 5 percent decline. For the next 2-3 days, we are talking about support at 2,100 ringgit and resistance at 2,200 ringgit," the trader said.
In other markets, oil prices fell on worries over a looming Chinese economic slowdown and decades-high oil output in the United States but stayed just above $107 per barrel due to a weak U.S. dollar and several supply disruptions.
In vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for December fell 0.6 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange slumped 2.5 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL AUG3 2256 -15.00 2222 2268 394
MY PALM OIL SEP3 2220 +21.00 2177 2225 5711
MY PALM OIL OCT3 2178 +8.00 2137 2189 23528
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN4 5368 -150.00 5360 5488 506426
CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 6986 -176.00 6960 7130 1058366
CBOT SOY OIL DEC3 43.60 -0.25 43.35 43.99 10353
NYMEX CRUDE SEP3 104.80 -0.69 104.61 105.63 16265
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=3.2065 ringgit)
Palm oil prices dropped to their lowest since October 2009 amid worries ideal weather in the U.S. Midwest could lead to a record soybean harvest, boosting soyoil supplies and shifting demand away from the competing tropical oil.
"Today we see a little bit of retracement in an oversold market, as prices have been going down for the past three days due to the bearish grains complex," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
At market close, the benchmark October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had edged up 0.4 percent to 2,178 ringgit ($679) per tonne, after earlier falling to 2,137 ringgit, a level not seen since October 2009.
Total traded volume stood at 46,631 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the average 35,000 lots. Prices moved between 2,137 and 2,189 ringgit.
Palm oil posted a 3.5 percent drop this week, its fourth weekly loss in five, pressured by weakness in the soybean complex as buyers eye a bumper harvest and soft export demand.
Malaysian palm oil exports for July 1-25 fell 6-7 percent from the same period a month ago, showing a recovery from the steeper 24 percent drop seen in the first half of the month.Cargo surveyors will release export data for the full month on Wednesday.
"Exports should start to recover towards the end of the month, probably showing a 5 percent decline. For the next 2-3 days, we are talking about support at 2,100 ringgit and resistance at 2,200 ringgit," the trader said.
In other markets, oil prices fell on worries over a looming Chinese economic slowdown and decades-high oil output in the United States but stayed just above $107 per barrel due to a weak U.S. dollar and several supply disruptions.
In vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for December fell 0.6 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange slumped 2.5 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL AUG3 2256 -15.00 2222 2268 394
MY PALM OIL SEP3 2220 +21.00 2177 2225 5711
MY PALM OIL OCT3 2178 +8.00 2137 2189 23528
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN4 5368 -150.00 5360 5488 506426
CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 6986 -176.00 6960 7130 1058366
CBOT SOY OIL DEC3 43.60 -0.25 43.35 43.99 10353
NYMEX CRUDE SEP3 104.80 -0.69 104.61 105.63 16265
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=3.2065 ringgit)