Malaysian palm oil ends mixed

Malaysian palm oil futures ended slightly down on Wednesday, though the market had a firm tone, supported by gains in rival soyabean oil, dealers said. The benchmark third-month June contract on the Bursar Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 2 ringgit to 1,975 ringgit ($569) per tonne by the end of trade.
"The market is back on profit taking with a firm backing from the soyaoil trade," said one dealer. "The market is trading in a broad range and is looking to cross the 2,000 ringgit level in the next couple of days."
Other traded months ranged from down six ringgit to up 8 ringgit up, in overall volume of 8,754 lots of 25 tonnes each. The market rose 1.2 percent on Monday on hopes of better exports and it is off an eight-year high of 2,062 ringgit reached in December when floods disrupted deliveries.
Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board rose on Tuesday on the back of the November 2008 contract as the struggle to secure bean acres for next year began this week, traders said.
Soyabean oil ended 0.18 to 0.30 cent per lb higher, with May up 0.25 cent at 31.24 cents. In electronic trade during Asian hours on Wednesday, the May contract was up 0.07 cent to 31.31 cents. Palm oil often tracks the soyabean market because both are used in products ranging from food and cosmetics to biodiesel.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for March 1-20 rose 0.8 percent to 617,142 tonnes from 612,057 tonnes shipped between February 1-20, cargo surveyor Interlake Testing services said. Another cargo surveyor, Society General de Surveillance, said exports during the period fell 6.1 percent to 596,774 tonnes from 635,215 tonnes shipped between February 1-20.
Palm oil prices are set to jump more than 20 percent by year-end as global oilseed stocks get depleted and demand from the food and fuel sectors surges, industry officials said at a price outlook conference in the Malaysian last week.
Malaysian palm oil, which gained almost 40 percent last year, could move slightly downward in the near term, but surging Indian food demand and Europe's insatiable appetite for biofuels will ensure the commodity holds on to the gains this year.
In Malaysia's physical market, crude palm oil for March shipment in the southern region was quoted at 1,980/1,985 ringgit per tonne. Trades were done between 1,980 and 1,990 ringgit a tonne.