Malaysian palm oil futures rebound on Friday from the previous day's three-year low but prices still posted their fourth consecutive weekly loss as worries persisted over record high stocks. For the week, palm oil lost almost 1 percent after slumping to the lowest since November 2009 on Thursday.
Sluggish global economic growth, which hurt commodity demand, has also put the edible oil on track for the steepest annual loss since 2008. "Concerns about large stockpiles are still hovering despite the fact that, on the financial market side, we have further stimulus coming from the US Fed and some speculation that Japan may expand its asset purchasing programme," said Ker Chung Yang, commodities analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore.
At the close, the benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 2.1 percent to 2,276 ringgit ($746) per tonne. Prices fell to 2,217 ringgit the previous day, a level unseen since November 2009. Total traded volumes stood at 44,837 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.
Traders will be looking out for Malaysia's export data for the first half of December, hoping for a stronger export demand after cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported a 2.8 percent slide in shipments for the December 1-10 period. They are also waiting for Malaysia's new January crude palm oil export tax set to be announced on Monday, with analysts expecting it to be set at zero, a level that could boost export demand and help bring stocks down. In other vegetable oil markets, US soyaoil for January delivery gained 1.4 percent in late Asian trade. The most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange also closed 1.4 percent higher.
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