Indonesian crude palm oil rebounds

Indonesian crude palm oil prices rebounded on Thursday tracking gains in Malaysian palm oil futures, but players stayed cautious on sharp gains in prices. The state marketing centre in Jakarta sold crude palm oil at 9,138 rupiah ($0.975) a kg, up 1.5 percent from 9,003 rupiah on Tuesday.
The centre which sells palm oil from state plantations did not hold an auction on Wednesday. "Palm oil futures gained in Malaysia and demand was also quite good," said an auction official at the centre, adding it managed to sell all 5,500 tonnes of crude palm oil offered in the auction. Producers in North Sumatra's Medan sold crude palm oil at 9,060-9,075 rupiah a kg, up from 9,020 rupiah on Wednesday.
"Prices gained but the market was a bit quiet. Malaysia gained sharply which made it difficult for players to take positions," said a dealer at a plantation firm in Medan, home to Belawan port, the key port for palm oil exports. Malaysian palm oil futures were closed on Wednesday to celebrate Hindu's festival Thaipusam.
Malaysia's benchmark futures contract for crude palm oil rose on Thursday after a rebound in rival soyoil prices lured innvestors back into the market. The contract closed down 96 ringgit at 3,211 ringgit ($982) a tonne on Thursday.
On Thursday, the trade ministry announced it would keep the palm oil export tax for February unchanged at 9 and 10 percent for different products as global prices remain above the benchmark used to ensure domestic supplies.
Indonesia adjusts palm oil export taxes each month based on palm oil prices in the international market in a bid to contain a jump in local prices and ensure supplies in the domestic market.
But dealers said the new palm oil export taxes did not have an effect on prices as dealers had anticipated the move. But in Jakarta, the price of refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm olein, which is used as cooking oil, was quoted at 8,800-8,850 rupiah a kilogram, easing from 8,900 rupiah a kilo as sharp gains in Malaysia madde players cautious.
The price excludes a 10 percent value-added tax. At the export market, sellers offered crude palm oil for shipment in February at $992.5 a tonne, free on board Belawan. Buyers bid at $987.5 a tonne but no trade was reported. For shipment in March, sellers offered crude palm oil at $995 a tonne, free on board Belawan. Buyers did not bid for the shipment.