MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Inches Lower As Weak Exports Weigh
VEGOILS-Palm Inches Lower As Weak Exports Weigh
12/07/2013 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures inched lower on Thursday on concerns over easing demand, but losses were curbed by data showing inventory had dropped more
than expected.
Stocks in the world's No.2 producer fell 9.4 percent to 1.65 million tonnes in June. That exceeded estimates of a 4.2-percent decline and marked the lowest inventory since March 2011.
Those numbers helped offset a bearish outlook for appetite, with cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services saying Malaysian palm oil exports fell 15.9 percent in the first 10 days of July from a month ago.
Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance reported a decline of 16.3 percent.
Traders had expected higher shipments on last-minute purchases as buyers stocked up in preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starting this week.
"The (stocks) news by itself is positive for crude palm oil prices, but we think sentiment may be dampened slightly by the cargo surveyor data," Alan Lim Seong Chun, an analyst with Malaysia's Kenanga Investment Bank, wrote in a note.
The benchmark September contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 0.3 percent to close at 2,371 ringgit ($749) per tonne on Thursday.
Total traded volume stood at 27,033 lots of 25 tonnes each, below the average 35,000 lots. Prices moved in a range between 2,363 ringgit and 2,388.
Traders said a stronger ringgit has also placed some pressure on palm oil prices, as the ringgit-priced feedstock becomes more expensive for overseas buyers and refiners.
The ringgit has gained 1.3 percent so far against the dollar in the past three sessions.
In other markets, Brent crude climbed to a more than three-month high near $109 per barrel amid hopes the U.S. Federal Reserve may keep its stimulus programme for now, while a sharp drop in oil inventories lifted U.S. prices to near 16-month peaks.
In vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December gained 0.3 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange
gained 1.2 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1003 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUL3 2400 +10.00 2380 2415 136
MY PALM OIL AUG3 2381 -1.00 2370 2394 3245
MY PALM OIL SEP3 2371 -6.00 2363 2388 14073
CHINA PALMOLEIN JAN4 5932 +56.00 5888 5982 480354
CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 7354 +84.00 7292 7410 841030
CBOT SOY OIL DEC3 46.26 +0.13 45.98 46.48 4533
NYMEX CRUDE AUG3 105.97 -0.55 105.90 107.45 37054
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
Dalian soy oil and RBD palmolein in Chinese yuan per tonne
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1=3.167 ringgit)
than expected.
Stocks in the world's No.2 producer fell 9.4 percent to 1.65 million tonnes in June. That exceeded estimates of a 4.2-percent decline and marked the lowest inventory since March 2011.
Those numbers helped offset a bearish outlook for appetite, with cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services saying Malaysian palm oil exports fell 15.9 percent in the first 10 days of July from a month ago.
Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance reported a decline of 16.3 percent.
Traders had expected higher shipments on last-minute purchases as buyers stocked up in preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starting this week.
"The (stocks) news by itself is positive for crude palm oil prices, but we think sentiment may be dampened slightly by the cargo surveyor data," Alan Lim Seong Chun, an analyst with Malaysia's Kenanga Investment Bank, wrote in a note.
The benchmark September contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 0.3 percent to close at 2,371 ringgit ($749) per tonne on Thursday.
Total traded volume stood at 27,033 lots of 25 tonnes each, below the average 35,000 lots. Prices moved in a range between 2,363 ringgit and 2,388.
Traders said a stronger ringgit has also placed some pressure on palm oil prices, as the ringgit-priced feedstock becomes more expensive for overseas buyers and refiners.
The ringgit has gained 1.3 percent so far against the dollar in the past three sessions.
In other markets, Brent crude climbed to a more than three-month high near $109 per barrel amid hopes the U.S. Federal Reserve may keep its stimulus programme for now, while a sharp drop in oil inventories lifted U.S. prices to near 16-month peaks.
In vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December gained 0.3 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange
gained 1.2 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1003 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUL3 2400 +10.00 2380 2415 136
MY PALM OIL AUG3 2381 -1.00 2370 2394 3245
MY PALM OIL SEP3 2371 -6.00 2363 2388 14073
CHINA PALMOLEIN JAN4 5932 +56.00 5888 5982 480354
CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 7354 +84.00 7292 7410 841030
CBOT SOY OIL DEC3 46.26 +0.13 45.98 46.48 4533
NYMEX CRUDE AUG3 105.97 -0.55 105.90 107.45 37054
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
Dalian soy oil and RBD palmolein in Chinese yuan per tonne
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1=3.167 ringgit)