MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Hits 2-wk High on Rising Exports, Posts Weekly Gain
VEGOILS-Palm Hits 2-wk High on Rising Exports, Posts Weekly Gain
27/04/2013 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures climbed to a two-week high on Friday, posting its first weekly gain out of five, as encouraging export data buoyed investor hopes for resilient global demand.
Cargo surveyor data showed palm oil shipments in the first 25 days of April rose between 2.7 percent and 5.2 percent, fuelled by stronger demand from India, Europe and the United States.
Traders also noted a sudden spike in buying from India, the world's biggest edible oil consumer, as Indian traders took advantage of low physical prices to buy.
"The market today is very strong. Exports are friendly to the market -- it shows that demand is still there," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
"There is prompt demand coming in from India. For the past few months India has kept a low profile, but now they are coming back into the market because prices are quite cheap, compared to two months ago when it was at 2,400 to 2,500 ringgit," he added.
The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange edged up 0.3 percent to close at 2,315 ringgit ($763) per tonne. Prices touched 2,334 ringgit earlier, the highest since April 12 and posted a 0.8 percent weekly gain after four straight weeks of losses.
Total traded volumes stood at 23,311 lots of 25 tonnes each, lower than the average 35,000 lots.
Technical analysis showed palm oil is expected to end the current rebound at or below 2,347 ringgit per tonne, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci retracement analysis, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
Investors hope that healthy exports and near-stagnant production will help cut stockpiles in Malaysia, the world's No.2 palm producer, and stem the loss in prices of about 5 percent so far this year.
Palm oil stocks stand at 2.17 million tonnes, after easing more than 10 percent from February.
In other markets, Brent crude slid below $103 a barrel on Friday after rising $3 in the past two sessions, with investors cautious over the tepid outlook for growth in the world's two largest oil consumers, the United States and China.
U.S. soyoil for July delivery dipped 0.4 percent. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange fell 0.6 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1010 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAY3 2305 -5.00 2239 2316 147
MY PALM OIL JUN3 2333 +11.00 2324 2354 2761
MY PALM OIL JUL3 2315 +6.00 2305 2334 12881
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP3 5950 -58.00 5950 6048 564616
CHINA SOYOIL SEP3 7306 -44.00 7302 7374 841628
CBOT SOY OIL JUL3 49.20 -0.29 49.10 49.59 6148
NYMEX CRUDE JUN3 93.04 -0.60 92.83 93.51 22254
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
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1=3.033 ringgit)
Cargo surveyor data showed palm oil shipments in the first 25 days of April rose between 2.7 percent and 5.2 percent, fuelled by stronger demand from India, Europe and the United States.
Traders also noted a sudden spike in buying from India, the world's biggest edible oil consumer, as Indian traders took advantage of low physical prices to buy.
"The market today is very strong. Exports are friendly to the market -- it shows that demand is still there," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
"There is prompt demand coming in from India. For the past few months India has kept a low profile, but now they are coming back into the market because prices are quite cheap, compared to two months ago when it was at 2,400 to 2,500 ringgit," he added.
The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange edged up 0.3 percent to close at 2,315 ringgit ($763) per tonne. Prices touched 2,334 ringgit earlier, the highest since April 12 and posted a 0.8 percent weekly gain after four straight weeks of losses.
Total traded volumes stood at 23,311 lots of 25 tonnes each, lower than the average 35,000 lots.
Technical analysis showed palm oil is expected to end the current rebound at or below 2,347 ringgit per tonne, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci retracement analysis, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
Investors hope that healthy exports and near-stagnant production will help cut stockpiles in Malaysia, the world's No.2 palm producer, and stem the loss in prices of about 5 percent so far this year.
Palm oil stocks stand at 2.17 million tonnes, after easing more than 10 percent from February.
In other markets, Brent crude slid below $103 a barrel on Friday after rising $3 in the past two sessions, with investors cautious over the tepid outlook for growth in the world's two largest oil consumers, the United States and China.
U.S. soyoil for July delivery dipped 0.4 percent. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange fell 0.6 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1010 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAY3 2305 -5.00 2239 2316 147
MY PALM OIL JUN3 2333 +11.00 2324 2354 2761
MY PALM OIL JUL3 2315 +6.00 2305 2334 12881
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP3 5950 -58.00 5950 6048 564616
CHINA SOYOIL SEP3 7306 -44.00 7302 7374 841628
CBOT SOY OIL JUL3 49.20 -0.29 49.10 49.59 6148
NYMEX CRUDE JUN3 93.04 -0.60 92.83 93.51 22254
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
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1=3.033 ringgit)