MARKET DEVELOPMENT
RPT-VEGOILS-Palm Oil Rises to End Near 10-week High
RPT-VEGOILS-Palm Oil Rises to End Near 10-week High
18/02/2014 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures reversed earlier losses to extend gains into a fourth straight session on Monday as expectations of rising demand and of falling output and exports offset a stronger ringgit.
By the close, the benchmark May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.6 percent at 2,682 ringgit ($810) per tonne. Earlier, prices rose to a high of 2,684 ringgit, just under Friday's peak at 2,688 ringgit, the highest level since Dec. 9.
"Anticipation of lower production in February and improving demand," a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage said. "There has also been flooding in some (Malaysian) palm growing areas."
Total traded volume stood at 32,658 lots of 25 tonnes, below the average 35,000 lots.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products from Feb. 1 to Feb. 15 rose 31.7 percent compared with the same period in January, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Saturday.
After the close, data from Societe Generale de Surveillance showed that exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Feb. 1-15 rose 27.2 percent.
Capping price rises was a firmer ringgit, a second trader added. The Malaysian ringgit rose as much as 0.6 percent to 3.2855 per dollar, its strongest since Jan. 16, ondemand from leveraged funds.
A firmer ringgit eats into margins for overseas buyers and refiners.
In comparative vegetable oils, the most active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange was little changed. Higher soyoil prices may push buyers towards cheaper palm instead.
Malaysia, the world's No.2 palm oil producer, kept its crude palm oil export tax unchanged for March at 5 percent, a government circular showed on Monday.
In technicals, Malaysian palm oil may break a support level at 2,648 ringgit per tonne and fall more to 2,624 ringgit as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci retracement analysis, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
In other markets, Brent crude steadied above $109 a barrel, supported by a weak dollar, supply disruptions and a severe winter across North America that has boosted heating demand.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1039 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAR4 2684 +23.00 2645 2684 631
MY PALM OIL APR4 2685 +20.00 2648 2687 8059
MY PALM OIL MAY4 2682 +19.00 2646 2684 14913
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY4 6010 +20.00 5950 6020 318374
CHINA SOYOIL MAY4 6728 -8.00 6686 6734 320978
CBOT SOY OIL MAR4 39.15 +0.00 0
NYMEX CRUDE MAR4 100.72 +0.41 100.23 101.13 12045
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 = 3.3052 Malaysian ringgit)
By the close, the benchmark May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.6 percent at 2,682 ringgit ($810) per tonne. Earlier, prices rose to a high of 2,684 ringgit, just under Friday's peak at 2,688 ringgit, the highest level since Dec. 9.
"Anticipation of lower production in February and improving demand," a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage said. "There has also been flooding in some (Malaysian) palm growing areas."
Total traded volume stood at 32,658 lots of 25 tonnes, below the average 35,000 lots.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products from Feb. 1 to Feb. 15 rose 31.7 percent compared with the same period in January, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Saturday.
After the close, data from Societe Generale de Surveillance showed that exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Feb. 1-15 rose 27.2 percent.
Capping price rises was a firmer ringgit, a second trader added. The Malaysian ringgit rose as much as 0.6 percent to 3.2855 per dollar, its strongest since Jan. 16, ondemand from leveraged funds.
A firmer ringgit eats into margins for overseas buyers and refiners.
In comparative vegetable oils, the most active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange was little changed. Higher soyoil prices may push buyers towards cheaper palm instead.
Malaysia, the world's No.2 palm oil producer, kept its crude palm oil export tax unchanged for March at 5 percent, a government circular showed on Monday.
In technicals, Malaysian palm oil may break a support level at 2,648 ringgit per tonne and fall more to 2,624 ringgit as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci retracement analysis, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
In other markets, Brent crude steadied above $109 a barrel, supported by a weak dollar, supply disruptions and a severe winter across North America that has boosted heating demand.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1039 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAR4 2684 +23.00 2645 2684 631
MY PALM OIL APR4 2685 +20.00 2648 2687 8059
MY PALM OIL MAY4 2682 +19.00 2646 2684 14913
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY4 6010 +20.00 5950 6020 318374
CHINA SOYOIL MAY4 6728 -8.00 6686 6734 320978
CBOT SOY OIL MAR4 39.15 +0.00 0
NYMEX CRUDE MAR4 100.72 +0.41 100.23 101.13 12045
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 = 3.3052 Malaysian ringgit)