MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Rises for First Time This Week; Records 2nd Monthly Drop
VEGOILS-Palm Rises for First Time This Week; Records 2nd Monthly Drop
(Updates prices, adds SGS exports graf)
* April marks second straight monthly drop, down 3.8 pct
* Malaysia's April palm exports down 6-7 pct m/m -cargo surveyors
* India could snap up bigger palm olein cargoes in May -trader
* Palm oil to end bounce around 2,118 rgt - technicals
05/05/2015 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose for the first time in a week on Thursday as investors squared positions ahead of a long holiday weekend, but the gains were not enough to prevent the contract from recording its second straight monthly drop.
A strong ringgit and worries over rising palm supplies in key growers had seen the tropical oil succumb to a six-day losing streak, which dragged benchmark prices to their weakest since September 2014.
However, the closure of Malaysian markets from Friday to Monday prompted some investors to square positions, which helped reduce selling pressure, market players said.
The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange inched up 1 percent to 2,102 ringgit ($590) a tonne by Thursday's close.
The gain, however, was not enough to overturn overall losses for April, with prices down 3.8 percent. Prices also notched their biggest weekly drop in six weeks.
Despite weak exports in April, anticipation of firmer demand from key customers next month also provided support for prices.
"Olein demand from India is rumoured to pick up in May," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
"Prices will be ranging between 2,050-2,100 ringgit, unless the ringgit weakens to 3.70 again, which is highly unlikely." The Malaysian currency was trading at 3.5600 per U.S. dollar by 1005 GMT. It last hit 3.7000 on April 16.
Total traded volume stood at 27,118 lots of 25 tonnes each, below the usual 35,000 lots.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported that exports of Malaysian palm products in April fell 7.2 percent from March to 1.07 million tonnes, with shipments of crude palm plunging more than 80 percent.
Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance showed exports for the same period fell 5.5 percent.
Buyers are waiting for next month when a duty-free policy for the crude grade takes effect. Malaysia, the world's No.2 palm grower, will remove its crude palm oil export tax for May after imposing a 4.5 percent rate in April.
In other markets, U.S. crude oil hit a five-month high on Thursday as the dollar slipped to its lowest since February and as more evidence emerged of a gradual balancing of the U.S. domestic market.
Market participants are keeping an eye on a boat captains' strike in Argentina's main grains port, which threaten to slow supplies from the world's No.3 exporter of raw soybeans. Any blockage of soy shipments could prompt some buyers to turn to competing palm.
The U.S. July soyoil contract rose 0.5 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 0.5 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1007 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAY5 2070 -8.00 2058 2080 66
MY PALM OIL JUN5 2105 +20.00 2095 2110 980
MY PALM OIL JUL5 2102 +20.00 2092 2108 14245
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP5 4878 +16.00 4836 4904 670580
CHINA SOYOIL SEP5 5696 +30.00 5632 5716 755276
CBOT SOY OIL JUL5 31.82 +0.50 31.63 31.85 6233
INDIA PALM OIL APR5 435.10 +0.50 434.70 435.60 578
INDIA SOYOIL JUN5 584.50 +1.00 583.50 586.00 19155
NYMEX CRUDE JUN5 58.90 +0.32 58.38 59.40 30947
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
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 3.5600 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.2028 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 63.64 Indian rupees)
* April marks second straight monthly drop, down 3.8 pct
* Malaysia's April palm exports down 6-7 pct m/m -cargo surveyors
* India could snap up bigger palm olein cargoes in May -trader
* Palm oil to end bounce around 2,118 rgt - technicals
05/05/2015 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose for the first time in a week on Thursday as investors squared positions ahead of a long holiday weekend, but the gains were not enough to prevent the contract from recording its second straight monthly drop.
A strong ringgit and worries over rising palm supplies in key growers had seen the tropical oil succumb to a six-day losing streak, which dragged benchmark prices to their weakest since September 2014.
However, the closure of Malaysian markets from Friday to Monday prompted some investors to square positions, which helped reduce selling pressure, market players said.
The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange inched up 1 percent to 2,102 ringgit ($590) a tonne by Thursday's close.
The gain, however, was not enough to overturn overall losses for April, with prices down 3.8 percent. Prices also notched their biggest weekly drop in six weeks.
Despite weak exports in April, anticipation of firmer demand from key customers next month also provided support for prices.
"Olein demand from India is rumoured to pick up in May," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
"Prices will be ranging between 2,050-2,100 ringgit, unless the ringgit weakens to 3.70 again, which is highly unlikely." The Malaysian currency was trading at 3.5600 per U.S. dollar by 1005 GMT. It last hit 3.7000 on April 16.
Total traded volume stood at 27,118 lots of 25 tonnes each, below the usual 35,000 lots.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported that exports of Malaysian palm products in April fell 7.2 percent from March to 1.07 million tonnes, with shipments of crude palm plunging more than 80 percent.
Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance showed exports for the same period fell 5.5 percent.
Buyers are waiting for next month when a duty-free policy for the crude grade takes effect. Malaysia, the world's No.2 palm grower, will remove its crude palm oil export tax for May after imposing a 4.5 percent rate in April.
In other markets, U.S. crude oil hit a five-month high on Thursday as the dollar slipped to its lowest since February and as more evidence emerged of a gradual balancing of the U.S. domestic market.
Market participants are keeping an eye on a boat captains' strike in Argentina's main grains port, which threaten to slow supplies from the world's No.3 exporter of raw soybeans. Any blockage of soy shipments could prompt some buyers to turn to competing palm.
The U.S. July soyoil contract rose 0.5 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 0.5 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1007 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAY5 2070 -8.00 2058 2080 66
MY PALM OIL JUN5 2105 +20.00 2095 2110 980
MY PALM OIL JUL5 2102 +20.00 2092 2108 14245
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP5 4878 +16.00 4836 4904 670580
CHINA SOYOIL SEP5 5696 +30.00 5632 5716 755276
CBOT SOY OIL JUL5 31.82 +0.50 31.63 31.85 6233
INDIA PALM OIL APR5 435.10 +0.50 434.70 435.60 578
INDIA SOYOIL JUN5 584.50 +1.00 583.50 586.00 19155
NYMEX CRUDE JUN5 58.90 +0.32 58.38 59.40 30947
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
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 3.5600 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.2028 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 63.64 Indian rupees)