MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Falls as Weak Soy, Strong Ringgit Drag; Exprts Support
VEGOILS-Palm Falls as Weak Soy, Strong Ringgit Drag; Exprts Support
* Malaysia's July 1-20 palm oil exports up 7.8-10.6 pct -cargo surveyors
* Palm market still depressed due to weak external factors -trader
* Palm oil targets 2,250-2,268 ringgit range - technicals
22/07/2014 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures edged down on Monday, adding to losses chalked up in three straight weeks of declines, as weakness in soyoil and a firm ringgit weighed on the market, although news of an increase in exports limited the fall.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported that exports of Malaysian palm oil products from July 1 to 20 rose 7.8 percent from a month before to 868,843 tonnes due to bigger shipments to Europe and China. Exports to China nearly doubled compared to the same period in June.
Another cargo surveyor showed exports for the same period rose 10.6 percent.
While the firm export data signalled robust demand for the tropical oil, weakness in soyoil markets commonly tracked by palm, as well as a strengthening local currency, held futures prices back.
The Malaysian ringgit rose 0.27 percent to 3.1750 per dollar on Monday, making the feedstock more expensive for overseas investors and refiners.
"Our exports are OK, but the market is still very depressed over external factors, including the strength of the ringgit compared to last week," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
The benchmark October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange edged down 0.5 percent to 2,297 ringgit ($724) per tonne, with prices trading from 2,288 to 2,304 ringgit.
Prices fell 1.6 percent last week and have lost nearly 6 percent so far in July.
Total traded volume stood at only 22,467 lots of 25 tonnes, below the average 35,000 lots.
"There's no clear direction as all the external bearish and domestic supportive news is well priced in," said a second Kuala Lumpur trader. "Slow trading in thin volumes is very much expected.
Technicals showed a bearish target range of 2,250-2,268 ringgit per tonne for Malaysian palm oil, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
In competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract shed 0.3 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange slipped 0.4 percent.
In other markets, Brent crude oil steadied around $107 a barrel on Monday after world powers extended talks with Iran and eased sanctions on the Islamic republic slightly, opening the possibility of an eventual deal and further Iranian oil sales.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1006 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL AUG4 2373 -13.00 2370 2377 522
MY PALM OIL SEP4 2324 -8.00 2312 2330 3050
MY PALM OIL OCT4 2297 -12.00 2288 2304 10671
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN5 5670 -26.00 5656 5736 581670
CHINA SOYOIL JAN5 6430 -26.00 6424 6468 201822
CBOT SOY OIL DEC4 36.60 -0.12 36.27 36.66 5000
NYMEX CRUDE AUG4 103.13 -0.01 102.65 103.49 4147
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 = 3.1715 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.2089 Chinese yuan)
* Palm market still depressed due to weak external factors -trader
* Palm oil targets 2,250-2,268 ringgit range - technicals
22/07/2014 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures edged down on Monday, adding to losses chalked up in three straight weeks of declines, as weakness in soyoil and a firm ringgit weighed on the market, although news of an increase in exports limited the fall.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported that exports of Malaysian palm oil products from July 1 to 20 rose 7.8 percent from a month before to 868,843 tonnes due to bigger shipments to Europe and China. Exports to China nearly doubled compared to the same period in June.
Another cargo surveyor showed exports for the same period rose 10.6 percent.
While the firm export data signalled robust demand for the tropical oil, weakness in soyoil markets commonly tracked by palm, as well as a strengthening local currency, held futures prices back.
The Malaysian ringgit rose 0.27 percent to 3.1750 per dollar on Monday, making the feedstock more expensive for overseas investors and refiners.
"Our exports are OK, but the market is still very depressed over external factors, including the strength of the ringgit compared to last week," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
The benchmark October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange edged down 0.5 percent to 2,297 ringgit ($724) per tonne, with prices trading from 2,288 to 2,304 ringgit.
Prices fell 1.6 percent last week and have lost nearly 6 percent so far in July.
Total traded volume stood at only 22,467 lots of 25 tonnes, below the average 35,000 lots.
"There's no clear direction as all the external bearish and domestic supportive news is well priced in," said a second Kuala Lumpur trader. "Slow trading in thin volumes is very much expected.
Technicals showed a bearish target range of 2,250-2,268 ringgit per tonne for Malaysian palm oil, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
In competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract shed 0.3 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange slipped 0.4 percent.
In other markets, Brent crude oil steadied around $107 a barrel on Monday after world powers extended talks with Iran and eased sanctions on the Islamic republic slightly, opening the possibility of an eventual deal and further Iranian oil sales.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1006 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL AUG4 2373 -13.00 2370 2377 522
MY PALM OIL SEP4 2324 -8.00 2312 2330 3050
MY PALM OIL OCT4 2297 -12.00 2288 2304 10671
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN5 5670 -26.00 5656 5736 581670
CHINA SOYOIL JAN5 6430 -26.00 6424 6468 201822
CBOT SOY OIL DEC4 36.60 -0.12 36.27 36.66 5000
NYMEX CRUDE AUG4 103.13 -0.01 102.65 103.49 4147
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 = 3.1715 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.2089 Chinese yuan)