MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Recovers From Near 1-Mth Low, Export Data Aids
VEGOILS-Palm Recovers From Near 1-Mth Low, Export Data Aids
18/09/2013 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended higher on Tuesday, recovering from a near one-month low hit earlier in the session, as overseas soy markets improved and strong exports in the first half of September lifted investor sentiment.
A stronger ringgit however made the feedstock more expensive for overseas refiners, keeping a lid on gains for the tropical oil.
"Exports are good and that helped the market a bit," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage. "Overseas markets also recovered during today's trading, so the palm market recovered some of its losses. But prices are still in range trading between 2,270-2,370 ringgit."
The benchmark December palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended up 0.3 percent at 2,353 ringgit ($724) per tonne. Total traded volumes were 44,037 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 35,000 lots.
Palm oil prices earlier fell to 2,294 ringgit, their lowest since Aug. 20, tracking a drop in U.S. soybean prices over the past two days triggered by forecasts for crop friendly rains. U.S. soy recovered on Tuesday on bargain hunting.
Larger supplies of soybeans for crushing into soyoil could tighten competition for rival palm oil and depress its prices which have already lost 3.5 percent so far this year.
Technicals show signals are mixed for Malaysian palm oil, as it is not clear if a rebound from the Sept. 13 low of 2,306 ringgit has completed, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
Palm oil prices got a boost in the afternoon session from data showing strong export demand.
Data from cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services showed exports of Malaysian palm oil products rose 13.6 percent compared to Aug. 1-15, due to higher purchases of crude palm oil and palm fatty acid distillates.
Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance showed exports rose 12.4 percent for the same period.
Malaysia, the world's No.2 palm oil producer, has decided to keep its crude palm oil export tax for October at 4.5 percent, a government circular showed early Tuesday. The rate has been left unchanged since March.
In other markets, Brent crude fell below $110 a barrel as easing worries over a potential U.S. attack on Syria calmed fears of a disruption to Middle East oil supplies and after output resumed at a western Libyan oilfield.
Lower crude oil prices could pull demand away from palm oil and make it a less attractive alternative to produce biodiesel.
In vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for December eased 0.3 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange edged down 0.1 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1023 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL OCT3 2364 +4.00 2312 2364 658
MY PALM OIL NOV3 2356 +8.00 2300 2359 9526
MY PALM OIL DEC3 2353 +7.00 2294 2356 21871
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN4 5412 -6.00 5354 5414 412372
CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 7102 -10.00 7048 7104 643314
CBOT SOY OIL DEC3 42.29 -0.11 42.13 42.44 4806
NYMEX CRUDE OCT3 106.10 -0.48 105.59 106.23 23683
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=3.249 Malaysian ringgit)
A stronger ringgit however made the feedstock more expensive for overseas refiners, keeping a lid on gains for the tropical oil.
"Exports are good and that helped the market a bit," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage. "Overseas markets also recovered during today's trading, so the palm market recovered some of its losses. But prices are still in range trading between 2,270-2,370 ringgit."
The benchmark December palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended up 0.3 percent at 2,353 ringgit ($724) per tonne. Total traded volumes were 44,037 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 35,000 lots.
Palm oil prices earlier fell to 2,294 ringgit, their lowest since Aug. 20, tracking a drop in U.S. soybean prices over the past two days triggered by forecasts for crop friendly rains. U.S. soy recovered on Tuesday on bargain hunting.
Larger supplies of soybeans for crushing into soyoil could tighten competition for rival palm oil and depress its prices which have already lost 3.5 percent so far this year.
Technicals show signals are mixed for Malaysian palm oil, as it is not clear if a rebound from the Sept. 13 low of 2,306 ringgit has completed, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
Palm oil prices got a boost in the afternoon session from data showing strong export demand.
Data from cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services showed exports of Malaysian palm oil products rose 13.6 percent compared to Aug. 1-15, due to higher purchases of crude palm oil and palm fatty acid distillates.
Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance showed exports rose 12.4 percent for the same period.
Malaysia, the world's No.2 palm oil producer, has decided to keep its crude palm oil export tax for October at 4.5 percent, a government circular showed early Tuesday. The rate has been left unchanged since March.
In other markets, Brent crude fell below $110 a barrel as easing worries over a potential U.S. attack on Syria calmed fears of a disruption to Middle East oil supplies and after output resumed at a western Libyan oilfield.
Lower crude oil prices could pull demand away from palm oil and make it a less attractive alternative to produce biodiesel.
In vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for December eased 0.3 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange edged down 0.1 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1023 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL OCT3 2364 +4.00 2312 2364 658
MY PALM OIL NOV3 2356 +8.00 2300 2359 9526
MY PALM OIL DEC3 2353 +7.00 2294 2356 21871
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN4 5412 -6.00 5354 5414 412372
CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 7102 -10.00 7048 7104 643314
CBOT SOY OIL DEC3 42.29 -0.11 42.13 42.44 4806
NYMEX CRUDE OCT3 106.10 -0.48 105.59 106.23 23683
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=3.249 Malaysian ringgit)