Palm oil hits 2½-week low ahead of export data
15/01/2018 (The Edge Markets MY) - KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): Malaysian palm oil futures hit their lowest in more than two weeks on Monday, on the back of stronger ringgit while traders remained cautious ahead of cargo surveyors' export data release.
A stronger ringgit typically makes palm oil more expensive for holders of foreign currencies. The ringgit has gained over 2% since the start of the year, and over 11% since 2017.
"The ringgit is stronger today," said a futures trader from Kuala Lumpur, referring to palm's currency of trade, which strengthened 0.4% against the dollar on Monday.
The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.2% at RM2,531 (US$639.79) a tonne at the midday break. Earlier in the session, it fell to RM2,525, its weakest since Dec 29, and is poised for a third straight session of declines.
Trading volumes stood at 17,709 lots of 25 tonnes each at the midday break.
Another trader added trading cautiousness ahead of export numbers also capped palm's upside, referring to export data from cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance. The data is scheduled to be released on Monday.
In related edible oils, the March soybean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was trading flat around 0510 GMT, while the May soybean oil on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was slightly down 0.03%.
The Dalian January palm oil contract declined 0.2%.
Palm oil tracks the performance of other edible oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
Palm oil may test a support at RM2,519 per tonne, with a good chance of breaking below this level and falling more to the next support at RM2,491, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices as of 0609 GMT
|
Contract |
Month |
Last |
Change |
Low |
High |
Volume |
|
MY PALM OIL |
JAN8 |
0 |
+0.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
MY PALM OIL |
FEB8 |
2521 |
-7.00 |
2520 |
2535 |
225 |
|
MY PALM OIL |
MAR8 |
2531 |
-5.00 |
2525 |
2544 |
6688 |
|
CHINA PALM OLEIN |
MAY8 |
5268 |
-12.00 |
5242 |
5298 |
198764 |
|
CHINA SOYOIL |
MAY8 |
5748 |
+0.00 |
5712 |
5760 |
198736 |
|
CBOT SOY OIL |
MAR8 |
33.13 |
+0.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
INDIA PALM OIL |
JAN8 |
557.80 |
+0.10 |
557.00 |
558.8 |
116 |
|
INDIA SOYOIL |
JAN8 |
742.5 |
+1.20 |
741.8 |
742.5 |
190 |
|
NYMEX CRUDE |
FEB8 |
64.51 |
+0.21 |
64.18 |
64.59 |
29032 |
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in US 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 US dollars per barrel
(US$1 = RM3.9560)
(US$1 = 63.3675 Indian rupees)
(US$1 = 6.4186 Chinese yuan)