MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Hits 4-1/2-year High on Weaker Ringgit, Tight Supplies
VEGOILS-Palm Hits 4-1/2-year High on Weaker Ringgit, Tight Supplies
* Palm sees 3rd gain in 6 sessions, hits 4-1/2-year top
* Market up on weaker ringgit after U.S. rate hike, tight supplies - traders
(Updates latest prices, quote)
16/12/2016 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose to the highest in 4-1/2-years on Thursday evening, charting a third straight session of gains on a weaker ringgit and tight supplies.
Palm saw three straight sessions of declines last week, pulling back from its highest level in four years, but the gains this week have recouped nearly all those losses.
Benchmark palm oil futures for February delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange were up 1.9 percent at 3,185 ringgit ($713) a tonne at the end of the trading day, the strongest daily gains in over a month.
It earlier touched 3,193 ringgit, its highest since May 16, 2012.
Traded volumes stood at 56,259 lots of 25 tonnes each, abovethe 2015 average of 44,600 lots traded in a day.
"Palm is up mainly on the weaker ringgit," said a trader from Kuala Lumpur, adding that technical buying was also supporting the market.
The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, fell 0.4 percent to reach 4.4620 per U.S. dollar at noon, its weakest in two weeks.
A weaker ringgit makes palm oil cheaper for holders of foreign currencies.
The ringgit's weakness follows the dollar's surge to a near 14-year high after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points. The U.S. central bank also increased the number of projected rate hikes for 2017.
Tight supplies in the market also contributed to the rise in prices, another trader said, as year-end production tends to decline.
Government data this week showed a 6.1 percent decline in Malaysia's November production, and traders expect to see further output falls in December as year-end monsoon rains and floods disrupt the fruit harvesting process.
In related vegetable oils, the January soybean oil contract on the CBOT was up 0.7 percent, while the May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.5 percent.
The May contract for Dalian palm olein surged 2.2 percent.
Palm prices are influenced by other vegetable oils, as they compete for shares in the global edible oils market.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1040 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL DEC6 0 +0.00 0 0 0
MY PALM OIL JAN7 3199 +55.00 3153 3208 1872
MY PALM OIL FEB7 3182 +60.00 3131 3193 20356
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY7 6428 +138.00 6240 6482 1147176
CHINA SOYOIL MAY7 7160 +34.00 7050 7198 645422
CBOT SOY OIL JAN7 37.17 +0.25 36.6 37.28 13692
INDIA PALM OIL DEC6 571.00 +6.70 567.70 571.5 1164
INDIA SOYOIL DEC6 731.9 +3.60 729.5 731.9 1230
NYMEX CRUDE JAN7 51.28 +0.24 50.76 51.37 57664
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 = 4.4620 ringgit)
($1 = 67.8399 Indian rupees)
($1 = 6.9311 Chinese yuan)
* Market up on weaker ringgit after U.S. rate hike, tight supplies - traders
(Updates latest prices, quote)
16/12/2016 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose to the highest in 4-1/2-years on Thursday evening, charting a third straight session of gains on a weaker ringgit and tight supplies.
Palm saw three straight sessions of declines last week, pulling back from its highest level in four years, but the gains this week have recouped nearly all those losses.
Benchmark palm oil futures for February delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange were up 1.9 percent at 3,185 ringgit ($713) a tonne at the end of the trading day, the strongest daily gains in over a month.
It earlier touched 3,193 ringgit, its highest since May 16, 2012.
Traded volumes stood at 56,259 lots of 25 tonnes each, abovethe 2015 average of 44,600 lots traded in a day.
"Palm is up mainly on the weaker ringgit," said a trader from Kuala Lumpur, adding that technical buying was also supporting the market.
The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, fell 0.4 percent to reach 4.4620 per U.S. dollar at noon, its weakest in two weeks.
A weaker ringgit makes palm oil cheaper for holders of foreign currencies.
The ringgit's weakness follows the dollar's surge to a near 14-year high after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points. The U.S. central bank also increased the number of projected rate hikes for 2017.
Tight supplies in the market also contributed to the rise in prices, another trader said, as year-end production tends to decline.
Government data this week showed a 6.1 percent decline in Malaysia's November production, and traders expect to see further output falls in December as year-end monsoon rains and floods disrupt the fruit harvesting process.
In related vegetable oils, the January soybean oil contract on the CBOT was up 0.7 percent, while the May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.5 percent.
The May contract for Dalian palm olein surged 2.2 percent.
Palm prices are influenced by other vegetable oils, as they compete for shares in the global edible oils market.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1040 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL DEC6 0 +0.00 0 0 0
MY PALM OIL JAN7 3199 +55.00 3153 3208 1872
MY PALM OIL FEB7 3182 +60.00 3131 3193 20356
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY7 6428 +138.00 6240 6482 1147176
CHINA SOYOIL MAY7 7160 +34.00 7050 7198 645422
CBOT SOY OIL JAN7 37.17 +0.25 36.6 37.28 13692
INDIA PALM OIL DEC6 571.00 +6.70 567.70 571.5 1164
INDIA SOYOIL DEC6 731.9 +3.60 729.5 731.9 1230
NYMEX CRUDE JAN7 51.28 +0.24 50.76 51.37 57664
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 = 4.4620 ringgit)
($1 = 67.8399 Indian rupees)
($1 = 6.9311 Chinese yuan)