MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Climbs More on Weakening Ringgit, Traders Wary
VEGOILS-Palm Climbs More on Weakening Ringgit, Traders Wary
* Price starts lower, then climbs to 2,193 ringgit
* Palm oil may rebound toward 2,211 ringgit -technicals
(Updates prices)
29/01/2015 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil rose for a second day on Wednesday, recouping some of its recent losses, but traders were wary and questioned how far the recovery could go since demand remained weak.
"Today is a technical retracement," said a trader at a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur, adding that a weakening in the ringgit on Wednesday had provided support.
The improvement in palm prices on Wednesday was a reaction to the decline of more than 10 percent seen since mid-January, a second trader said.
"The drop was a bit on the sharp side. It was overdone," he said. "Nothing is going on. The FOB prices are basically unchanged. In the cash market there is nothing."
By the Wednesday's close, the benchmark April contract had gained 1.47 percent to 2,207 ringgit ($610) per tonne, after opening lower at 2,164 ringgit. Traded volume stood at 55,607 lots of 25 tonnes, well above the typical 35,000 lots.
Despite that high volume, demand for palm oil remained weak, traders said, partly as a result of oil prices that have subsided around 60 percent since mid-2014, limiting demand for biodiesel.
Malaysia's Sime Darby Bhd, the world's top oil palm planter by land size, said on Wednesday it had obtained the European Commission's approval to buy New Britain Palm Oil Ltd for about $1.74 billion.
Oil slipped to $49 a barrel on Wednesday after an industry report said U.S. crude stocks rose by the most in two decades last week, and as a firmer dollar added to pressure on prices.
The U.S. soyoil contract for March fell 0.23 percent in Asian trade. The most active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange shed 0.5 percent.
The Malaysian ringgit weakened by 0.48 percent to 3.6165 per dollar and has now lost almost 15 percent since September. A weaker ringgit normally leads to increased demand for palm, since it makes the oil cheaper for foreign buyers.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1226 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL FEB5 2221 +33.00 2180 2221 265
MY PALM OIL MAR5 2218 +32.00 2168 2221 2637
MY PALM OIL APR5 2207 +32.00 2164 2216 27417
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY5 0 +0.00 0 0 0
CHINA SOYOIL MAY5 0 +0.00 0 0 0
CBOT SOY OIL MAR5 30.96 +0.50 30.75 31.15 14168
INDIA PALM OIL JAN5 427.50 +0.50 426.40 429.10 408
INDIA SOYOIL FEB5 619.60 -3.55 618.00 628.50 50075
NYMEX CRUDE MAR5 45.53 -0.70 45.14 45.83 35728
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
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 3.6165 ringgit)
($1 = 6.2475 Chinese yuan renminbi)
($1 = 61.3430 Indian rupees)
* Palm oil may rebound toward 2,211 ringgit -technicals
(Updates prices)
29/01/2015 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil rose for a second day on Wednesday, recouping some of its recent losses, but traders were wary and questioned how far the recovery could go since demand remained weak.
"Today is a technical retracement," said a trader at a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur, adding that a weakening in the ringgit on Wednesday had provided support.
The improvement in palm prices on Wednesday was a reaction to the decline of more than 10 percent seen since mid-January, a second trader said.
"The drop was a bit on the sharp side. It was overdone," he said. "Nothing is going on. The FOB prices are basically unchanged. In the cash market there is nothing."
By the Wednesday's close, the benchmark April contract had gained 1.47 percent to 2,207 ringgit ($610) per tonne, after opening lower at 2,164 ringgit. Traded volume stood at 55,607 lots of 25 tonnes, well above the typical 35,000 lots.
Despite that high volume, demand for palm oil remained weak, traders said, partly as a result of oil prices that have subsided around 60 percent since mid-2014, limiting demand for biodiesel.
Malaysia's Sime Darby Bhd, the world's top oil palm planter by land size, said on Wednesday it had obtained the European Commission's approval to buy New Britain Palm Oil Ltd for about $1.74 billion.
Oil slipped to $49 a barrel on Wednesday after an industry report said U.S. crude stocks rose by the most in two decades last week, and as a firmer dollar added to pressure on prices.
The U.S. soyoil contract for March fell 0.23 percent in Asian trade. The most active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange shed 0.5 percent.
The Malaysian ringgit weakened by 0.48 percent to 3.6165 per dollar and has now lost almost 15 percent since September. A weaker ringgit normally leads to increased demand for palm, since it makes the oil cheaper for foreign buyers.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1226 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL FEB5 2221 +33.00 2180 2221 265
MY PALM OIL MAR5 2218 +32.00 2168 2221 2637
MY PALM OIL APR5 2207 +32.00 2164 2216 27417
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY5 0 +0.00 0 0 0
CHINA SOYOIL MAY5 0 +0.00 0 0 0
CBOT SOY OIL MAR5 30.96 +0.50 30.75 31.15 14168
INDIA PALM OIL JAN5 427.50 +0.50 426.40 429.10 408
INDIA SOYOIL FEB5 619.60 -3.55 618.00 628.50 50075
NYMEX CRUDE MAR5 45.53 -0.70 45.14 45.83 35728
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
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 3.6165 ringgit)
($1 = 6.2475 Chinese yuan renminbi)
($1 = 61.3430 Indian rupees)