MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Oil Up, Tracking Gains in Overseas Soy Markets
VEGOILS-Palm Oil Up, Tracking Gains in Overseas Soy Markets
03/04/2014 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended higher for the first time this week on Wednesday,
following strong gains in overseas soyoil markets with investors pinning hopes that tighter supplies of competing oilseeds would drive demand to palm.
Strong export and domestic demand for U.S. soybeans had soaked up last year's record large crop, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report, cutting stocks by 1 percent to 992 million bushels. The Chicago soybean front-month contract climbed to its highest in more than six months on Wednesday.
Tight supplies of soybean available for crushing would lift soyoil prices, widening its premium to palm oil and potentially turning buyers to the tropical oil instead.
The U.S. soyoil contract for May gained 2.2 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active September soybean oil
contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange surged 2.1 percent.
"Palm prices surged in tandem with the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), with follow-through buying lifting palm futures
higher," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
The benchmark June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had inched up 1.3 percent to 2,648 ringgit
($810) per tonne by Wednesday's close.
Total traded volume stood at 55,356 lots of 25 tonnes, much higher than the usual 35,000 lots.
Technicals showed Malaysian palm oil faces resistance at 2,671 ringgit per tonne, and may either hover below this level or retrace to 2,640 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
But disappointing export data for the month of March capped gains and kept investors wary of lagging food and fuel demand for palm oil from key consumers.
Cargo surveyors data on Monday showed that exports of Malaysia's palm oil products dropped 3 percent in March compared
to a month ago, after the world's top buyers India and China cut back purchases.
"Unless demand kicks in, the upward trend will be treated as a correction only," the Kuala Lumpur-based trader added.
Market players are expecting festive-driven demand from the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr to encourage exports in April onwards, as buyers re-stock on the vegetable oil ahead of a month of feasting.
In other markets, Brent crude oil steadied above $105 a barrel on Wednesday after hitting a near five-month low the
previous session, as investors waited for U.S. inventory data to assess demand in the world's top oil consumer.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL APR4 2705 +16.00 2699 2710 77
MY PALM OIL MAY4 2664 +29.00 2664 2693 3641
MY PALM OIL JUN4 2648 +35.00 2645 2671 27250
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP4 6294 +126.00 6252 6370 627970
CHINA SOYOIL SEP4 7056 +146.00 7010 7132 1067330
CBOT SOY OIL MAY4 42.31 +0.91 41.40 42.35 13705
NYMEX CRUDE MAY4 99.63 -0.11 99.37 99.83 14412
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 = 3.2690 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.2056 Chinese yuan)
following strong gains in overseas soyoil markets with investors pinning hopes that tighter supplies of competing oilseeds would drive demand to palm.
Strong export and domestic demand for U.S. soybeans had soaked up last year's record large crop, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report, cutting stocks by 1 percent to 992 million bushels. The Chicago soybean front-month contract climbed to its highest in more than six months on Wednesday.
Tight supplies of soybean available for crushing would lift soyoil prices, widening its premium to palm oil and potentially turning buyers to the tropical oil instead.
The U.S. soyoil contract for May gained 2.2 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active September soybean oil
contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange surged 2.1 percent.
"Palm prices surged in tandem with the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), with follow-through buying lifting palm futures
higher," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
The benchmark June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had inched up 1.3 percent to 2,648 ringgit
($810) per tonne by Wednesday's close.
Total traded volume stood at 55,356 lots of 25 tonnes, much higher than the usual 35,000 lots.
Technicals showed Malaysian palm oil faces resistance at 2,671 ringgit per tonne, and may either hover below this level or retrace to 2,640 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
But disappointing export data for the month of March capped gains and kept investors wary of lagging food and fuel demand for palm oil from key consumers.
Cargo surveyors data on Monday showed that exports of Malaysia's palm oil products dropped 3 percent in March compared
to a month ago, after the world's top buyers India and China cut back purchases.
"Unless demand kicks in, the upward trend will be treated as a correction only," the Kuala Lumpur-based trader added.
Market players are expecting festive-driven demand from the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr to encourage exports in April onwards, as buyers re-stock on the vegetable oil ahead of a month of feasting.
In other markets, Brent crude oil steadied above $105 a barrel on Wednesday after hitting a near five-month low the
previous session, as investors waited for U.S. inventory data to assess demand in the world's top oil consumer.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL APR4 2705 +16.00 2699 2710 77
MY PALM OIL MAY4 2664 +29.00 2664 2693 3641
MY PALM OIL JUN4 2648 +35.00 2645 2671 27250
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP4 6294 +126.00 6252 6370 627970
CHINA SOYOIL SEP4 7056 +146.00 7010 7132 1067330
CBOT SOY OIL MAY4 42.31 +0.91 41.40 42.35 13705
NYMEX CRUDE MAY4 99.63 -0.11 99.37 99.83 14412
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 = 3.2690 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.2056 Chinese yuan)