MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Hits Two-Week High on Weak Ringgit, Competing Markets
VEGOILS-Palm Hits Two-Week High on Weak Ringgit, Competing Markets
* Rgt down around 1.8 pct against dollar this week
* Palm oil may break resistance at 2,222 ringgit -technicals
29/05/2015 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rallied to a two-week high on Thursday as traders took advantage of a falling ringgit, supported by gains in competing markets and signs that the El Nino weather phenomenon could already be hurting output in East Malaysia.
By the midday break on Thursday, the August contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange was up 1.7 percent at 2,215 ringgit a tonne. Prices earlier touched 2,219 ringgit, their highest since May 13.
Total traded volume stood at 23,892 lots of 25 tonnes each, well above the average 12,500 lots traded by midday.
Benchmark palm prices have pulled up from more than three-week lows earlier this week, following a surge in Chinese and U.S. soy markets, with robust export demand so far in May also fuelling the rise.
The ringgit had slipped around 0.33 percent to 3.647 per dollar by 0458 GMT, and has shed around 1.8 percent this week. A weaker ringgit makes palm cheaper for overseas customers.
Gains on Thursday were also supported by early signs that a strong El Nino weather pattern may be reducing output from the world's No. 2 palm oil producer, traders said.
Such a pattern results in below-average rainfall in top palm producers Indonesia and Malaysia.
"The weather in East Malaysia is unusually hot and dry," a trader at a local commodities brokerage told Reuters on Thursday, adding that the dry conditions were expected to continue in June. "Yields are already plunging in the states of Sabah and Sarawak."
The El Nino weather phenomenon predicted by meteorologists could push depressed palm oil prices as high as $700 a tonne this year, an industry group in top producer Indonesia said last week, although it said production was unlikely to be impacted until early 2016.
The U.S. July soyoil contract gained 0.44 percent in early Asian trade, while the most active September palm oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 1.26 percent.
In other markets, crude oil prices recovered on Thursday after a two-day slide, although high U.S. stocks and strong global production, along with a firm dollar, were keeping markets under pressure.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0519 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUN5 2175 +30.00 2155 2175 178
MY PALM OIL JUL5 2216 +37.00 2190 2217 2926
MY PALM OIL AUG5 2215 +37.00 2190 2219 12353
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP5 5150 +64.00 5048 5184 902584
CHINA SOYOIL SEP5 5764 -8.00 5720 5810 528266
CBOT SOY OIL JUL5 31.87 +1.80 31.67 31.98 5471
INDIA PALM OIL MAY5 457.20 +1.80 456.60 458.00 90
INDIA SOYOIL JUN5 601.20 +3.65 599.00 602.90 9215
NYMEX CRUDE JUL5 57.75 +0.24 57.56 57.87 6432
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 = 3.6475 ringgit)
($1 = 6.1995 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 63.8500 Indian rupees)
* Palm oil may break resistance at 2,222 ringgit -technicals
29/05/2015 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rallied to a two-week high on Thursday as traders took advantage of a falling ringgit, supported by gains in competing markets and signs that the El Nino weather phenomenon could already be hurting output in East Malaysia.
By the midday break on Thursday, the August contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange was up 1.7 percent at 2,215 ringgit a tonne. Prices earlier touched 2,219 ringgit, their highest since May 13.
Total traded volume stood at 23,892 lots of 25 tonnes each, well above the average 12,500 lots traded by midday.
Benchmark palm prices have pulled up from more than three-week lows earlier this week, following a surge in Chinese and U.S. soy markets, with robust export demand so far in May also fuelling the rise.
The ringgit had slipped around 0.33 percent to 3.647 per dollar by 0458 GMT, and has shed around 1.8 percent this week. A weaker ringgit makes palm cheaper for overseas customers.
Gains on Thursday were also supported by early signs that a strong El Nino weather pattern may be reducing output from the world's No. 2 palm oil producer, traders said.
Such a pattern results in below-average rainfall in top palm producers Indonesia and Malaysia.
"The weather in East Malaysia is unusually hot and dry," a trader at a local commodities brokerage told Reuters on Thursday, adding that the dry conditions were expected to continue in June. "Yields are already plunging in the states of Sabah and Sarawak."
The El Nino weather phenomenon predicted by meteorologists could push depressed palm oil prices as high as $700 a tonne this year, an industry group in top producer Indonesia said last week, although it said production was unlikely to be impacted until early 2016.
The U.S. July soyoil contract gained 0.44 percent in early Asian trade, while the most active September palm oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 1.26 percent.
In other markets, crude oil prices recovered on Thursday after a two-day slide, although high U.S. stocks and strong global production, along with a firm dollar, were keeping markets under pressure.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0519 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUN5 2175 +30.00 2155 2175 178
MY PALM OIL JUL5 2216 +37.00 2190 2217 2926
MY PALM OIL AUG5 2215 +37.00 2190 2219 12353
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP5 5150 +64.00 5048 5184 902584
CHINA SOYOIL SEP5 5764 -8.00 5720 5810 528266
CBOT SOY OIL JUL5 31.87 +1.80 31.67 31.98 5471
INDIA PALM OIL MAY5 457.20 +1.80 456.60 458.00 90
INDIA SOYOIL JUN5 601.20 +3.65 599.00 602.90 9215
NYMEX CRUDE JUL5 57.75 +0.24 57.56 57.87 6432
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 = 3.6475 ringgit)
($1 = 6.1995 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 63.8500 Indian rupees)