MARKET DEVELOPMENT
23-08-2004
Malaysia Aug 1-20 Exports Disappoint
KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones)--Asian cash palm oil prices were mixedFriday, with products in Malaysia moving higher due to aggressive buyinginterest from a large trading house.In the Malaysian market, a slew of supply and demand figures wereissued Friday and were considered neutral to bearish, traders said.Earlier Friday, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services estimatedMalaysian palm oil exports in the first 20 days of August at 759,623 tons,up 11.1% from the same period in July. The figures were within marketexpectations as speculation was for exports of around 750,000 tons.However, another surveyor SGS (Malaysia) Bhd. reported a disappointingfigure around midday. SGS pegged Aug. 1-20 exports at 725,922 tons, uponly 3.1% from the July 1-20 period.SGS is more closely watched by market participants."The SGS figure is so much lower than Intertek. I expect the market toslowly move down. The main reason why it's higher today is because (atrading company) is bidding for nearby deliveries," a trader said.Traders said once the buying interest from the trading company, whichexports mainly to the Middle East, subsides, the market would be hardpressed to sustain earlier gains.Meanwhile, private crop surveyor Palmis Management Bhd. also issuedsupply and demand figures Friday.Palmis estimated August CPO output around 1.335 million-1.340 millionmetric tons, up from the 1.27 million tons produced in July, tradersfamiliar with the latest Palmis report said.According to traders who obtained the data, Palmis estimated Augustpalm oil exports at 1.165 million-1.170 million tons, up from 1.11 milliontons in July.Palmis pegged end-August stocks at 1.37 million-1.38 million tons, upfrom 1.27 million tons at end-July, traders said.Traders said the figures are unlikely to have much impact on palm oilprices as there were no major revisions from the previous forecast issueda week ago."Production is higher (compared with the previous forecast). Butstocks are unchanged, so overall, the impact is neutral," a trader said.In the cash market, CPO for September shipment was offered atMYR1,525/ton, up MYR5 from Thursday, delivered basis in South Malaysia.RBD palm olein for September shipment was offered at $440/ton, up $5from Thursday.RBD palm oil for September shipment was offered at $430/ton, also up$5.In Indonesia, RBD palm olein in Jakarta was offered at 4,400 rupiah($1=IDR9,205) a kilogram, down IDR25 from Thursday.
