Malaysian palm oil price touches six-week high, tracking gains in US soyoil
28.02.2018 (The Star Online) - KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose to a more than six-week high on Tuesday before paring gains, but still ended higher for a third straight session supported by strength in rival edible oils.
The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.1 percent at 2,542 ringgit ($650.79) a tonne at the close of trade.
It rose to 2,557 ringgit in the second half of trade, its strongest levels since Jan. 12. It has gained 2 percent so far this month.
Trading volumes stood at 36,529 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day.
"Palm was higher before due to support from Dalian's refined, bleached and deodorized palm olein," said a futures trader. "But it then came down on a weaker demand growth outlook."
Cargo surveyors are due to release Malaysia's palm oil shipment data for February after 0300 GMT on Wednesday.
Exports were up 4-5 percent in the Feb. 1-25 period versus the corresponding period in January, compared with gains of 8-9 percent in the Feb. 1-20 period.
Palm climbed in the first half of trade, tracking overnight gains in U.S. soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade, said another trader on Tuesday.
Prices of the tropical oil are affected by movements in rival edible oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
The Chicago Board of Trade's March soybean oil contract rose 0.8 percent on Monday, in line with soybeans, lifted by weather forecasts indicating little rain relief for parched crop belts in Argentina, the world's third-largest soybean exporter. It was last down 0.4 percent on Tuesday.
In other related oils, the May soybean oil on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange edged up less than 0.1 percent, while the Dalian May palm oil contract was up 0.6 percent. It rose over 1 percent in the previous session.
Palm oil is poised to break a resistance at 2,562 ringgit per tonne and rise more towards the next resistance at 2,592 ringgit, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals. - Reuters