Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed mixed on Thursday as the market awaited next week's export and stocks data. The state-run Malaysian Palm Oil Board will release August stocks and production numbers on Monday. Cargo surveyors will also issue September 1 to 10 export figures next week.
"The market will remain like this until next week, when the data come out," said one dealer. "Until then it will trade in a narrow range." The benchmark third-month November crude palm oil contract on the Burma Malaysia Derivatives market ended up eight ringgit at 1,570 ringgit ($430) a tonne after trading in a range of 1,555 to 1,575 ringgit.
Other traded months were either marginally up or down. Volumes stood at 6,956 lots of 25 tonnes each, down from around 10,000 to 12,000 lots traded on a normal day. Palm oil stocks in Malaysia fell 1.9 percent by the end of August from a month because of robust exports, but overseas sales could slow in September, a Reuters's poll showed on Thursday.
Palm oil output in Malaysia, the world's largest producer, is estimated to have risen 9.1 percent to 1.5 million tonnes in August, according to the median estimate of five plantation houses polled by Reuters. Exports performed equally well, with a rise of 9.4 percent to 1.35 million tonnes in August from 1,233,489 tonnes in July. Malaysian palm oil exports have been rising in recent months because of strong buying from traditional consumers such as China and Europe. Sales to the Middle East and Pakistan have also risen ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
"We are already witnessing a slowdown, it will be difficult to maintain the same pace in September," said one plantation official from the refining hub of Paris Guiding in the southern Joho state.
In the physical crude palm oil market, sellers were quoting 1,560 ringgit a tonne for September shipment and buyers 1,552.50 ringgit. Trades were done between 1,545 and 1,555 ringgit a tonne.
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