MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Snaps 5-Day Rally on Export Worries, Crude Supports
VEGOILS-Palm Snaps 5-Day Rally on Export Worries, Crude Supports
(Corrects milestone for benchmark palm prices)
* Palm closes 0.8 pct down after hitting 3-week high of 2,477 rgt earlier
* Worries of poor 1-20 export data drag on market -trader
* Oil hits nine-month high near $115 on Iraq turmoil
* Ringgit up 0.64 pct to 3.2130 per dollar
20/06/2014 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended lower for the first time in five sessions on Thursday as worries over weakening exports and a strong ringgit weighed, although a pick up fuel demand due to turmoil in Iraq stemmed the losses.
The benchmark September contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 0.8 percent lower at 2,446 ringgit ($762) per tonne, snapping a 5-day rally that lifted the contract to a three-week top of 2,477 ringgit earlier.
Total traded volume stood at 45,588 lots of 25 tonnes, above the average 35,000 lots.
Traders said worries over poor export data for the first 20 days of the month had weighed on benchmark prices in late trade.
Cargo surveyors are due to release reports on Malaysian palm oil shipments for the June 1-20 period on Friday.
"There's talk that tomorrow's 20-days exports is not good and that it could have fallen more than 10 percent," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products fell a weaker-than-expected 8 percent to 587,000-590,000 tonnes compared with the same period a month ago, due to lagging demand from Europe and China.
A stronger local currency also curbed buying interest from overseas investors and refiners. The Malaysian ringgit advanced 0.64 percent to 3.2130 per dollar on Thursday as investors added fresh long positions.
But losses were capped as crude oil prices surged to a nine-month peak, making palm a cheaper, more attractive feedstock for biodiesel producers.
Brent crude touched an intraday peak of $114.80 a barrel on Thursday, its highest since Sept. 9, on concerns that heavy fighting in Iraq could limit oil supply from OPEC's second-biggest producer. U.S. crude for July delivery rose 30 cents to $106.27 a barrel.
Oil prices are on track for a third day of gains following a rise of more than 4 percent last week.
Malaysian palm prices, which set the tone for global prices, are poised for their biggest weekly gain in eight weeks, as worries that hot weather across the No.2 producer signals the approach of the El Nino weather pattern, and that heat could curb yields of the tropical fruit.
Hot and dry weather hinders growth of fresh fruit bunches, affecting oil extraction rates.
"The first 15 days of the month indicated that exports are still minus and that production is picking up," said another Kuala Lumpur-based trader. "But as the days progressed, the persistent hot and dry weather will definitely take a toll on the production figure."
In other competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract was fell 0.3 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange gained 0.1 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1038 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUL4 2462 -17.00 2462 2489 724
MY PALM OIL AUG4 2456 -19.00 2450 2485 6631
MY PALM OIL SEP4 2446 -19.00 2440 2477 19249
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN5 5900 -2.00 5894 5942 254450
CHINA SOYOIL JAN5 6856 +8.00 6850 6880 272054
CBOT SOY OIL JUL4 39.99 -0.14 39.99 40.26 4901
NYMEX CRUDE JUL4 106.43 +0.46 106.00 106.63 5023
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 = 3.2120 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.2296 Chinese yuan)
* Palm closes 0.8 pct down after hitting 3-week high of 2,477 rgt earlier
* Worries of poor 1-20 export data drag on market -trader
* Oil hits nine-month high near $115 on Iraq turmoil
* Ringgit up 0.64 pct to 3.2130 per dollar
20/06/2014 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended lower for the first time in five sessions on Thursday as worries over weakening exports and a strong ringgit weighed, although a pick up fuel demand due to turmoil in Iraq stemmed the losses.
The benchmark September contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 0.8 percent lower at 2,446 ringgit ($762) per tonne, snapping a 5-day rally that lifted the contract to a three-week top of 2,477 ringgit earlier.
Total traded volume stood at 45,588 lots of 25 tonnes, above the average 35,000 lots.
Traders said worries over poor export data for the first 20 days of the month had weighed on benchmark prices in late trade.
Cargo surveyors are due to release reports on Malaysian palm oil shipments for the June 1-20 period on Friday.
"There's talk that tomorrow's 20-days exports is not good and that it could have fallen more than 10 percent," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products fell a weaker-than-expected 8 percent to 587,000-590,000 tonnes compared with the same period a month ago, due to lagging demand from Europe and China.
A stronger local currency also curbed buying interest from overseas investors and refiners. The Malaysian ringgit advanced 0.64 percent to 3.2130 per dollar on Thursday as investors added fresh long positions.
But losses were capped as crude oil prices surged to a nine-month peak, making palm a cheaper, more attractive feedstock for biodiesel producers.
Brent crude touched an intraday peak of $114.80 a barrel on Thursday, its highest since Sept. 9, on concerns that heavy fighting in Iraq could limit oil supply from OPEC's second-biggest producer. U.S. crude for July delivery rose 30 cents to $106.27 a barrel.
Oil prices are on track for a third day of gains following a rise of more than 4 percent last week.
Malaysian palm prices, which set the tone for global prices, are poised for their biggest weekly gain in eight weeks, as worries that hot weather across the No.2 producer signals the approach of the El Nino weather pattern, and that heat could curb yields of the tropical fruit.
Hot and dry weather hinders growth of fresh fruit bunches, affecting oil extraction rates.
"The first 15 days of the month indicated that exports are still minus and that production is picking up," said another Kuala Lumpur-based trader. "But as the days progressed, the persistent hot and dry weather will definitely take a toll on the production figure."
In other competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract was fell 0.3 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange gained 0.1 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1038 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUL4 2462 -17.00 2462 2489 724
MY PALM OIL AUG4 2456 -19.00 2450 2485 6631
MY PALM OIL SEP4 2446 -19.00 2440 2477 19249
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN5 5900 -2.00 5894 5942 254450
CHINA SOYOIL JAN5 6856 +8.00 6850 6880 272054
CBOT SOY OIL JUL4 39.99 -0.14 39.99 40.26 4901
NYMEX CRUDE JUL4 106.43 +0.46 106.00 106.63 5023
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 = 3.2120 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.2296 Chinese yuan)