Malaysian palm oil price rises after 2 sessions of falls on US soyoil strength
The Star Online (25/08/2018) - KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Friday, recovering from two straight sessions of declines on technical correction and tracking strength in U.S.soyoil prices.
The benchmark palm oil contract for November delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.5 percent at 2,229 ringgit ($543.00) a tonne at the midday break, but down 0.4 percent for the week in what could be its second straight weekly fall.
Trading volumes were thin, with 9,029 lots of 25 tonnes each at Friday noon
"The palm market is reacting to stronger bean oil prices during Asian hours," said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader, referring to soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Palm oil prices are impacted by movements of other edible oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
Palm fell over 1 percent on Thursday after data released by the Malaysian Palm Oil Association showed a 13.8 percent increase in production for the Aug. 1-20 period.
"The market moved up in the morning session probably on a technical rebound after the sharp drop yesterday, but I expect the market to resume downbeat in the second half as concern about the production numbers remains," said another trader, adding that the market had expected a less than 10 percent rise.
Palm oil output in Malaysia, the world's second largest producer, typically rises in the third and fourth quarters of the year in line with the seasonal trend.
In other related oils, the Chicago December soybean oil contract rose 0.3 percent on Friday.
The January soybean oil contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange climbed 0.3 percent, while the Dalian January palm oil contract fell 0.2 percent. - Reuters