MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Oil Hits 9-wk High, Buoyed by Rival Vegetable Oils
VEGOILS-Palm Oil Hits 9-wk High, Buoyed by Rival Vegetable Oils
15/02/2014 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose to their highest level in nine weeks on Friday, extending gains into a third session as a climb in rival vegetable oils boosted prices ahead of eagerly anticipated export data.
The U.S. soyoil contract for March was little changed in late Asian trade, while the most active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange climbed 1 percent.
Higher soyoil prices may push buyers towards cheaper palm instead.
The benchmark April contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended up 0.41 percent at 2,667 ringgit ($800) per tonne. Prices had earlier touched 2,688 ringgit, the highest since Dec. 9, and rose 3.4 percent this week.
Total traded volume stood at 40,588 lots of 25 tonnes, above the average 35,000 lots.
"The market is pretty strong," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage. "Bean oil and Dalian is bottoming out, and crude is up ... all these factors means a friendly market."
Palm oil export data from Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services on Feb. 15 and Societe Generale de Surveillance on Feb. 17 for Feb. 1-15, is also being eyed, he added.
"Last month, the first ten days of export were very bad," he said. "It should be higher than January, but whether it is positive, it is largely factored in already."
Malaysia, the world's second-biggest palm oil producer, is also set to announce its monthly export tax rate on Monday.
Benchmark prices eased in the afternoon session as traders booked profits, a second trader said.
In related news, India's palm oil imports in January fell to their lowest since September, data from the Solvent Extractors' Association of India showed, largely due to a seasonal drop in demand for the tropical oil that solidifies in winter.
Technicals were bullish. Malaysian palm oil is expected to rise to 2,696 ringgit per tonne, as it has broken above resistance at 2,671 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
In other markets, Brent crude eased towards $108 a barrel as downbeat U.S. economic data outweighed supply disruptions in Libya and Angola.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1011 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL FEB4 0 +0.00 0 0 0
MY PALM OIL MAR4 2660 +8.00 2651 2683 875
MY PALM OIL APR4 2667 +11.00 2654 2688 14990
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY4 6018 +86.00 5962 6020 327622
CHINA SOYOIL MAY4 6744 +66.00 6722 6748 304812
CBOT SOY OIL MAR4 39.55 +0.01 39.46 39.83 6242
NYMEX CRUDE MAR4 99.85 -0.50 99.78 100.47 14602
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 = 3.3225 Malaysian ringgits)
The U.S. soyoil contract for March was little changed in late Asian trade, while the most active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange climbed 1 percent.
Higher soyoil prices may push buyers towards cheaper palm instead.
The benchmark April contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended up 0.41 percent at 2,667 ringgit ($800) per tonne. Prices had earlier touched 2,688 ringgit, the highest since Dec. 9, and rose 3.4 percent this week.
Total traded volume stood at 40,588 lots of 25 tonnes, above the average 35,000 lots.
"The market is pretty strong," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage. "Bean oil and Dalian is bottoming out, and crude is up ... all these factors means a friendly market."
Palm oil export data from Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services on Feb. 15 and Societe Generale de Surveillance on Feb. 17 for Feb. 1-15, is also being eyed, he added.
"Last month, the first ten days of export were very bad," he said. "It should be higher than January, but whether it is positive, it is largely factored in already."
Malaysia, the world's second-biggest palm oil producer, is also set to announce its monthly export tax rate on Monday.
Benchmark prices eased in the afternoon session as traders booked profits, a second trader said.
In related news, India's palm oil imports in January fell to their lowest since September, data from the Solvent Extractors' Association of India showed, largely due to a seasonal drop in demand for the tropical oil that solidifies in winter.
Technicals were bullish. Malaysian palm oil is expected to rise to 2,696 ringgit per tonne, as it has broken above resistance at 2,671 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
In other markets, Brent crude eased towards $108 a barrel as downbeat U.S. economic data outweighed supply disruptions in Libya and Angola.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1011 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL FEB4 0 +0.00 0 0 0
MY PALM OIL MAR4 2660 +8.00 2651 2683 875
MY PALM OIL APR4 2667 +11.00 2654 2688 14990
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY4 6018 +86.00 5962 6020 327622
CHINA SOYOIL MAY4 6744 +66.00 6722 6748 304812
CBOT SOY OIL MAR4 39.55 +0.01 39.46 39.83 6242
NYMEX CRUDE MAR4 99.85 -0.50 99.78 100.47 14602
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 = 3.3225 Malaysian ringgits)