MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Snaps 3-day Losing Streak on Uptick in Soy Markets, Short Covering
VEGOILS-Palm Snaps 3-day Losing Streak on Uptick in Soy Markets, Short Covering
* Investors short-cover ahead of Eid al-Fitr weekend -trader
* Palm oil targets 2,298 ringgit -technicals
* Indonesia leaves August crude palm oil export tax unchanged at 10.5 pct.
25/07/2014 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended higher on Thursday, snapping a three-day losing streak as investors short-covered positions ahead of the long weekend and as a small recovery in the comparative soy oil markets provided some relief to palm.
Palm prices had slid to a more than 11-month low on Wednesday, dragged by fears of rising global oilseed supplies and growers' estimates that palm oil output in Malaysia, the No.2 producer, surged during the July 1-20 period. "There's short-covering ahead of a long weekend and holiday," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian markets will be closed on Monday and Tuesday for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.
"External markets are also supporting (palm). Soyoil looks like it's bottoming out," the trader added.
A second Kuala Lumpur-based trader earlier said palm prices will likely "stay supportive and close higher."
The benchmark October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had inched up 1.2 percent to 2,281 ringgit ($719) per tonne by Thursday's close.
Prices remained in a tight range between 2,261 and 2,285 ringgit.
Total traded volume stood at only 23,752 lots of 25 tonnes, below the usual 35,000 lots.
Technicals show Malaysian palm oil may break a resistance at 2,268 ringgit and rebound more towards 2,298 ringgit per tonne, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci retracement analysis, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
Despite forecasts by the Malaysian Palm Oil Association that crude palm oil production picked up more than 16 percent in the first twenty days of July, fears of bigger supply of palm in the market were subdued.
Market players say the rise could be because of early harvesting before plantation workers go on holiday for the Muslim festival next week. Most traders and analysts expect output to drop towards the end of July.
Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil producer, said on
Thursday it will leave its August crude palm oil export tax unchanged at 10.5 percent. Malaysia has set its own export tax at a more competitive 5 percent for August.
In other markets, Brent crude dipped below $108 a barrel on Thursday as unseasonably weak demand from European refiners and plentiful supplies offset strong Chinese factory data.
In competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract edged up 0.4 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange rose 0.2 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL AUG4 2350 +8.00 2345 2360 204
MY PALM OIL SEP4 2307 +24.00 2290 2314 1686
MY PALM OIL OCT4 2281 +26.00 2261 2285 14324
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN5 5646 +50.00 5572 5668 454604
CHINA SOYOIL JAN5 6406 +14.00 6396 6432 215656
CBOT SOY OIL DEC4 36.51 +0.16 36.31 36.56 4720
NYMEX CRUDE SEP4 102.77 -0.35 102.70 103.31 17335
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 = 3.1740 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.1949 Chinese yuan)
* Palm oil targets 2,298 ringgit -technicals
* Indonesia leaves August crude palm oil export tax unchanged at 10.5 pct.
25/07/2014 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended higher on Thursday, snapping a three-day losing streak as investors short-covered positions ahead of the long weekend and as a small recovery in the comparative soy oil markets provided some relief to palm.
Palm prices had slid to a more than 11-month low on Wednesday, dragged by fears of rising global oilseed supplies and growers' estimates that palm oil output in Malaysia, the No.2 producer, surged during the July 1-20 period. "There's short-covering ahead of a long weekend and holiday," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian markets will be closed on Monday and Tuesday for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.
"External markets are also supporting (palm). Soyoil looks like it's bottoming out," the trader added.
A second Kuala Lumpur-based trader earlier said palm prices will likely "stay supportive and close higher."
The benchmark October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had inched up 1.2 percent to 2,281 ringgit ($719) per tonne by Thursday's close.
Prices remained in a tight range between 2,261 and 2,285 ringgit.
Total traded volume stood at only 23,752 lots of 25 tonnes, below the usual 35,000 lots.
Technicals show Malaysian palm oil may break a resistance at 2,268 ringgit and rebound more towards 2,298 ringgit per tonne, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci retracement analysis, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
Despite forecasts by the Malaysian Palm Oil Association that crude palm oil production picked up more than 16 percent in the first twenty days of July, fears of bigger supply of palm in the market were subdued.
Market players say the rise could be because of early harvesting before plantation workers go on holiday for the Muslim festival next week. Most traders and analysts expect output to drop towards the end of July.
Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil producer, said on
Thursday it will leave its August crude palm oil export tax unchanged at 10.5 percent. Malaysia has set its own export tax at a more competitive 5 percent for August.
In other markets, Brent crude dipped below $108 a barrel on Thursday as unseasonably weak demand from European refiners and plentiful supplies offset strong Chinese factory data.
In competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract edged up 0.4 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange rose 0.2 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL AUG4 2350 +8.00 2345 2360 204
MY PALM OIL SEP4 2307 +24.00 2290 2314 1686
MY PALM OIL OCT4 2281 +26.00 2261 2285 14324
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN5 5646 +50.00 5572 5668 454604
CHINA SOYOIL JAN5 6406 +14.00 6396 6432 215656
CBOT SOY OIL DEC4 36.51 +0.16 36.31 36.56 4720
NYMEX CRUDE SEP4 102.77 -0.35 102.70 103.31 17335
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 = 3.1740 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.1949 Chinese yuan)