MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Tracks Rival Oils to End Flat; Weak Ringgit Lends Support
VEGOILS-Palm Tracks Rival Oils to End Flat; Weak Ringgit Lends Support
* Palm rises to near one-week high at 2,278 ringgit per tonne
* Palm reverses earlier losses as prices track rival oils
* Weak ringgit and El Nino sentiment boost prices
(Updated throughout, adds closing prices/quotes)
03/07/2015 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil reversed earlier losses to end flat on Thursday tracking other vegetable oils while a weak ringgit and concerns over an El Nino weather pattern provided support.
The September palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange ended unchanged at 2,267 ringgit ($600) a tonne after trading in a 2,245-2,278 ringgit band.
Palm prices were 0.5 percent lower on the week and remain near a one-month low last touched on June 22 at 2,218 ringgit.
"The market is range-trading," said a palm trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. "Bean oil up, we follow. Bean oil down, we follow."
"The ringgit weakens further. It's just following outside sentiment," he said, adding that concerns remained about Greece's debt default and its potential impact on European palm buying.
The Malaysian ringgit traded near 10-year lows, which is providing support as it makes benchmark palm cheaper for overseas buyers.
Total traded volume for palm by the midday break was 49,772 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared with the usual 35,000 lots.
Palm had posted its first positive day this week on Wednesday after a bullish U.S. agriculture department report boosted sentiment.
Palm oil is biased to rise to resistance at 2,293 ringgit per tonne, as it seems to have stabilised around support at 2,216 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
In other vegetable oils, the U.S. July soyoil contract was little changed, while the most active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was 0.3 percent lower.
Weather bureaus are confirming the return of an El Nino weather pattern this year, which can lead to scorching weather across Asia.
"It's a yo-yo market," said a second Malaysia-based palm trader. "Crude oil dropped sharply, although the ringgit is weakening."
Oil prices steadied after a day of steep losses driven by an unexpected build in U.S. crude stocks that added to a global supply glut.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1036 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUL5 2260 -3.00 2260 2260 56
MY PALM OIL AUG5 2264 -3.00 2245 2274 2812
MY PALM OIL SEP5 2267 +0.00 2245 2278 21995
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN6 5114 +10.00 5058 5154 618268
CHINA SOYOIL JAN6 5812 -16.00 5760 5870 528954
CBOT SOY OIL DEC5 33.53 +1.60 33.34 33.69 5885
INDIA PALM OIL JUL5 446.40 +1.60 444.30 447.30 734
INDIA SOYOIL AUG5 586.20 +1.60 582.80 586.90 36875
NYMEX CRUDE AUG5 57.12 +0.16 56.80 57.25 29315
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 = 3.7765 ringgit)
($1 = 6.2044 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 63.5200 Indian rupees)
* Palm reverses earlier losses as prices track rival oils
* Weak ringgit and El Nino sentiment boost prices
(Updated throughout, adds closing prices/quotes)
03/07/2015 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil reversed earlier losses to end flat on Thursday tracking other vegetable oils while a weak ringgit and concerns over an El Nino weather pattern provided support.
The September palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange ended unchanged at 2,267 ringgit ($600) a tonne after trading in a 2,245-2,278 ringgit band.
Palm prices were 0.5 percent lower on the week and remain near a one-month low last touched on June 22 at 2,218 ringgit.
"The market is range-trading," said a palm trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. "Bean oil up, we follow. Bean oil down, we follow."
"The ringgit weakens further. It's just following outside sentiment," he said, adding that concerns remained about Greece's debt default and its potential impact on European palm buying.
The Malaysian ringgit traded near 10-year lows, which is providing support as it makes benchmark palm cheaper for overseas buyers.
Total traded volume for palm by the midday break was 49,772 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared with the usual 35,000 lots.
Palm had posted its first positive day this week on Wednesday after a bullish U.S. agriculture department report boosted sentiment.
Palm oil is biased to rise to resistance at 2,293 ringgit per tonne, as it seems to have stabilised around support at 2,216 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
In other vegetable oils, the U.S. July soyoil contract was little changed, while the most active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was 0.3 percent lower.
Weather bureaus are confirming the return of an El Nino weather pattern this year, which can lead to scorching weather across Asia.
"It's a yo-yo market," said a second Malaysia-based palm trader. "Crude oil dropped sharply, although the ringgit is weakening."
Oil prices steadied after a day of steep losses driven by an unexpected build in U.S. crude stocks that added to a global supply glut.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1036 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUL5 2260 -3.00 2260 2260 56
MY PALM OIL AUG5 2264 -3.00 2245 2274 2812
MY PALM OIL SEP5 2267 +0.00 2245 2278 21995
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN6 5114 +10.00 5058 5154 618268
CHINA SOYOIL JAN6 5812 -16.00 5760 5870 528954
CBOT SOY OIL DEC5 33.53 +1.60 33.34 33.69 5885
INDIA PALM OIL JUL5 446.40 +1.60 444.30 447.30 734
INDIA SOYOIL AUG5 586.20 +1.60 582.80 586.90 36875
NYMEX CRUDE AUG5 57.12 +0.16 56.80 57.25 29315
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 = 3.7765 ringgit)
($1 = 6.2044 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 63.5200 Indian rupees)