CPO futures end lower, tracking soybean oil weakness on CBOT
28/12/2023 (The Edge Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur - Crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended lower on Thursday, tracking the weakness of soybean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), said a dealer.
Palm oil trader David Ng said lower export estimates also weighed on prices.
“Hence, we see support at RM3,600 and resistance at RM3,850 a tonne,” he told Bernama.
Mumbai-based Sunvin Group commodity research head Anilkumar Bagani said Bursa Malaysia’s CPO futures were seen trading lower on Thursday following the weakness in Chinese vegetable oil futures and Malaysia’s weaker palm oil performance during December month so far.
“Additional weakness in sentiments was due to lower crude oil prices overnight. Although, the lower production estimates have restricted the palm oil prices from falling at a bigger magnitude,” he opined.
Anilkumar added that crude oil prices dropped nearly 2% on Wednesday, eating into the previous day’s gains as investors monitored developments in the Red Sea, where shippers are returning despite further attacks on Tuesday.
At the close, the spot month January 2024 contract fell RM43 to RM3,657 per tonne, while February 2024 and May 2024 slipped RM33 each to RM3,717 and RM3,720 per tonne, respectively.
March 2024 and April 2024 eased RM31 each to RM3,739 and RM3,740 per tonne, respectively, while June 2024 declined RM27 to RM3,690 per tonne.
The total volume fell to 42,868 lots from 43,569 lots on Wednesday, and open interest narrowed to 213,487 contracts from 237,821 previously.
The physical CPO price for January South slid RM10 to RM3,720 per tonne.