MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Oil Falls to One-month Low on Stronger Ringgit, Weak Demand
VEGOILS-Palm Oil Falls to One-month Low on Stronger Ringgit, Weak Demand
* Palm oil may drop to 2,481 ringgit -technicals
* Feb palm oil exports fall 17-18 pct m/m - data
(Updates prices)
03/03/2016 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell to their lowest in a month on Wednesday, weighed down by a stronger ringgit and weak export demand.
The palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 1.9 percent lower at its intra-day low of 2,488 ringgit ($598) per tonne at the end of the trading day. The contract closed at its weakest level since Jan. 29.
Traded volume stood at 31,613 lots of 25 tonnes each.
"The dollar is weaker and demand is still slow," said a trader from a brokerage firm in Kuala Lumpur.
A weaker dollar on Wednesday pushed the ringgit to 4.1600, up 0.1 percent against the greenback in evening trade. A stronger ringgit, the currency palm oil is traded in, makes the tropical oil more expensive for holders of foreign currencies.
Demand for Malaysian palm oil products fell 17-18 percent for the full month of February compared with the previous month, according to export data from cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services (ITS) and Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS).
Malaysian shipments for palm oil have been slowing in recent weeks due to a fall in consumer demand from top palm importers China and India.
Palm oil is expected to drop to 2,481 ringgit per tonne, as it has cleared support at 2,519 ringgit, according to Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals. In competing vegetable oil markets, the May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 1.0 percent, while the Chicago soyoil contract edged up 1.2 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1006 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAR6 2448 -26.00 2448 2473 87
MY PALM OIL APR6 2480 -39.00 2480 2502 1384
MY PALM OIL MAY6 2488 -47.00 2488 2524 19111
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY6 4918 -14.00 4908 5022 1279460
CHINA SOYOIL MAY6 5608 -58.00 5594 5732 714842
CBOT SOY OIL MAY6 30.24 -4.30 30.16 30.60 8599
INDIA PALM OIL MAR6 480.40 -4.30 478.10 482.50 2221
INDIA SOYOIL MAR6 601.00 -7.75 600.80 608.00 18500
NYMEX CRUDE APR6 33.71 -0.69 33.61 34.29 46913
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 = 4.1600 ringgit)
($1 = 67.6100 Indian rupees)
($1 = 6.5505 Chinese yuan)
* Feb palm oil exports fall 17-18 pct m/m - data
(Updates prices)
03/03/2016 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell to their lowest in a month on Wednesday, weighed down by a stronger ringgit and weak export demand.
The palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 1.9 percent lower at its intra-day low of 2,488 ringgit ($598) per tonne at the end of the trading day. The contract closed at its weakest level since Jan. 29.
Traded volume stood at 31,613 lots of 25 tonnes each.
"The dollar is weaker and demand is still slow," said a trader from a brokerage firm in Kuala Lumpur.
A weaker dollar on Wednesday pushed the ringgit to 4.1600, up 0.1 percent against the greenback in evening trade. A stronger ringgit, the currency palm oil is traded in, makes the tropical oil more expensive for holders of foreign currencies.
Demand for Malaysian palm oil products fell 17-18 percent for the full month of February compared with the previous month, according to export data from cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services (ITS) and Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS).
Malaysian shipments for palm oil have been slowing in recent weeks due to a fall in consumer demand from top palm importers China and India.
Palm oil is expected to drop to 2,481 ringgit per tonne, as it has cleared support at 2,519 ringgit, according to Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals. In competing vegetable oil markets, the May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 1.0 percent, while the Chicago soyoil contract edged up 1.2 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1006 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAR6 2448 -26.00 2448 2473 87
MY PALM OIL APR6 2480 -39.00 2480 2502 1384
MY PALM OIL MAY6 2488 -47.00 2488 2524 19111
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY6 4918 -14.00 4908 5022 1279460
CHINA SOYOIL MAY6 5608 -58.00 5594 5732 714842
CBOT SOY OIL MAY6 30.24 -4.30 30.16 30.60 8599
INDIA PALM OIL MAR6 480.40 -4.30 478.10 482.50 2221
INDIA SOYOIL MAR6 601.00 -7.75 600.80 608.00 18500
NYMEX CRUDE APR6 33.71 -0.69 33.61 34.29 46913
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 = 4.1600 ringgit)
($1 = 67.6100 Indian rupees)
($1 = 6.5505 Chinese yuan)