MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Ends Lower, But Weak Ringgit Checks Losses
VEGOILS-Palm Ends Lower, But Weak Ringgit Checks Losses
25/09/2013 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures reversed early gains to end down on Tuesday amid forecasts that competing oilseed supplies would soon flood the market, although a weak ringgit checked losses.
The ringgit eased 0.3 percent against the dollar in late trade, helping keep palm oil in a tight range between 2,291 ringgit and 2,329 ringgit and improving margins for overseas buyers.
"Last week the ringgit appreciated a little too much. Now we're expecting the ringgit to weaken and that will be supportive of the market," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
"Food industries and some other end-consumers are very under-covered, so whenever prices dip a bit they will take the opportunity to come in and buy," the trader added.
By Tuesday's close, the benchmark December contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had edged down 0.4 percent to 2,300 ringgit ($715) per tonne, slightly below the midday break's 2,333 ringgit.
Palm oil had dropped to the weakest since Aug. 14 at 2,279 ringgit on Monday, hurt by projections for higher global edible oil supply that could drag down palm oil prices to new lows in 2014.
The trader said he expects prices to stay within a range of 2,250-2,400 ringgit "because we don't have any new factors to move the market much lower or higher".
Total traded volumes stood at 24,678 lots of 25 tonnes each, below the average 35,000 lots.
Palm oil has shed nearly 6 percent this year, extending losses from a 23.2 percent fall suffered in 2012 - palm's worst annual performance since the global financial crisis in 2008.
But rising demand for the tropical oil could support prices.
Edible oil imports of world's No.1 buyer India could rise 4 percent to a record 10.7 million tonnes in 2013/14 due to growth in consumption, with the entire rise coming from refined palm oil, a leading trade expert told the Globoil Conference in India
last weekend.
Market players will be watching for Malaysia's export data for the Sept. 1-25 period, due to be released on Wednesday by cargo surveyors. Exports in the first 20 days rose between 9-13 percent.
In other markets, Brent crude fell below $108 a barrel, losing ground again after almost a month of falls as geopolitical tension eased and further evidence emerged of rising oil supplies from Libya and Iraq.
In vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for December was flat in late Asian trade. The most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities
Exchange rose 0.9 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1019 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL OCT3 2310 -6.00 2309 2331 694
MY PALM OIL NOV3 2308 -3.00 2295 2329 3189
MY PALM OIL DEC3 2300 -9.00 2291 2329 13012
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN4 5410 +64.00 5370 5434 314586
CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 7084 +64.00 7036 7096 447024
CBOT SOY OIL DEC3 42.24 +0.00 42.21 42.50 6170
NYMEX CRUDE NOV3 103.13 -0.46 103.00 103.64 18573
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 = 3.219 Malaysian ringgit)
The ringgit eased 0.3 percent against the dollar in late trade, helping keep palm oil in a tight range between 2,291 ringgit and 2,329 ringgit and improving margins for overseas buyers.
"Last week the ringgit appreciated a little too much. Now we're expecting the ringgit to weaken and that will be supportive of the market," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
"Food industries and some other end-consumers are very under-covered, so whenever prices dip a bit they will take the opportunity to come in and buy," the trader added.
By Tuesday's close, the benchmark December contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had edged down 0.4 percent to 2,300 ringgit ($715) per tonne, slightly below the midday break's 2,333 ringgit.
Palm oil had dropped to the weakest since Aug. 14 at 2,279 ringgit on Monday, hurt by projections for higher global edible oil supply that could drag down palm oil prices to new lows in 2014.
The trader said he expects prices to stay within a range of 2,250-2,400 ringgit "because we don't have any new factors to move the market much lower or higher".
Total traded volumes stood at 24,678 lots of 25 tonnes each, below the average 35,000 lots.
Palm oil has shed nearly 6 percent this year, extending losses from a 23.2 percent fall suffered in 2012 - palm's worst annual performance since the global financial crisis in 2008.
But rising demand for the tropical oil could support prices.
Edible oil imports of world's No.1 buyer India could rise 4 percent to a record 10.7 million tonnes in 2013/14 due to growth in consumption, with the entire rise coming from refined palm oil, a leading trade expert told the Globoil Conference in India
last weekend.
Market players will be watching for Malaysia's export data for the Sept. 1-25 period, due to be released on Wednesday by cargo surveyors. Exports in the first 20 days rose between 9-13 percent.
In other markets, Brent crude fell below $108 a barrel, losing ground again after almost a month of falls as geopolitical tension eased and further evidence emerged of rising oil supplies from Libya and Iraq.
In vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for December was flat in late Asian trade. The most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities
Exchange rose 0.9 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1019 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL OCT3 2310 -6.00 2309 2331 694
MY PALM OIL NOV3 2308 -3.00 2295 2329 3189
MY PALM OIL DEC3 2300 -9.00 2291 2329 13012
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN4 5410 +64.00 5370 5434 314586
CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 7084 +64.00 7036 7096 447024
CBOT SOY OIL DEC3 42.24 +0.00 42.21 42.50 6170
NYMEX CRUDE NOV3 103.13 -0.46 103.00 103.64 18573
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 = 3.219 Malaysian ringgit)