Indonesian palm oil prices were unchanged on Thursday without any fresh supply-demand news to move the market. There was no auction at the state marketing centre in Jakarta, which sells palm oil from state plantations after failing to sell 2,500 tonnes of crude palm oil on Wednesday.
In North Sumatra's Medan, some 4,000 tonnes of crude palm oil were traded at 6,590 rupiah a kilogram, unchanged from Tuesday.
"Prices have hit the lowest point, they can't go any lower than that," said a trader in Medan. Non-branded cooking oil was unchanged at 7,100 rupiah a kilogram in Jakarta from Wednesday. Cooking oil is a staple in Indonesia and an increase in cooking oil prices can add inflationary pressure. "Cooking oil prices have hit the bottom.
Prices may rise tomorrow tracking Malaysia's gains today," said a cooking oil trader based in Jakarta. Malaysian futures climbed up 6 ringgit to 2,340 ringgit ($675) a tonne, supported by Indonesia's decision to maintain an export tax on palm oil products for the next 2-3 months.
The government recently raised the export tax of crude palm oil to 6.5 percent from 1.5 percent to manage the soaring cooking oil prices. In the export market, crude palm oil shipment for July was offered at $717.5 a tonne frees on board Begawan, down $2.5 a tonne from Wednesday.
Buyers bid at $712.5 a tonne but no deals were reported. August shipments, crude palm oil was offered at $710 a tonne with bid at $690 a tonne. There were no deals reported.
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