Palm trades lower, tracking rival vegetable oils; industry data eyed
09/12/2024 (XM.com), Jakarta - Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Monday, tracking a decline in rival vegetable oils on the Dalian and Chicago exchanges, while traders await data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) for further cues.
The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for February delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 47ringgit, or 0.92%, at 5,081 ringgit ($1,149.55) a metric ton by the midday break.
"Market is expected to trade rangebound on Monday in anticipation of the official MPOB data, due tomorrow, for further direction," said Darren Lim, commodities strategist at brokerage Phillip Nova.
Malaysia's palm oil inventories are likely to have dropped in November for a second consecutive month as torrential rains disrupted production, a Reuters survey showed.
A flood struck Malaysia last week after heavy rains in November. The country's meteorological department forecast a monsoon surge from Dec. 8 to 14, which could bring continuous rainfall to the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia and parts of Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo Island.
On the day, Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 dropped 0.84%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 slipped 0.78%.Soyoil fell 0.77% on the Chicago Board of Trade BOcv1.
Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.
Oil prices nudged higher on Monday as heightened tensions in the Middle East following the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by rebels outweighed concerns over weak Chinese demand. [O/R]
Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.
Palm oil FCPOc3 may break resistance at 5,162 ringgit per metric ton and rise towards the 5,202 ringgit to 5,242 ringgit range, driven by a wave 5, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. TECH/C
($1 = 4.4200 ringgit) - Reuters