Indian soyoil futures rose on Thursday, tracking a rebound in rival Malaysian palm oil futures and higher crude oil. At 3:57 pm (1027 GMT), the January contract on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange was up 0.85 percent at 586.7 rupees ($14.9) per 10 kg.
The February contract rose 0.92 percent to 592.90 rupees. In Malaysia, the April palm contract rose 3 percent to 3,263 ringgit per tonne after two days of declines. Soyoil and palm oil are related commodities and their prices often move in tandem. US crude oil, which was trading up 0.41 percent at $91.25 at 1028 GMT after more than $3 losses in two days, also supported the vegetable oils as the rise could spur demand for biofuels.
Soyoil prices in the central city of Indore rose 0.5 percent to 56,300 rupees per tonne, traders said. Meanwhile, Indian sugar futures rose on Thursday after the farm minister sharply lowered the output forecast, and traders said they expected prices to rally in far-month contracts.
Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday India was likely to produce 26 million tonnes of sugar in the crop year to September, nearly 12 percent below earlier forecasts and below last year's 28.4 million tonnes. At 3:32 pm (1002 GMT), the January contract on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange was up 1.96 percent at 1,457 rupees ($37.1) per 100 kg. The contract expires on Friday.
The February contract was up 1.22 percent at 1,488 rupees. The March contract rose 1.06 percent to 1,530 rupees. "Sugar has come back strongly. Now that production is pegged lower than last year's we may see 1,700 rupees levels in May and June contracts," an analyst with Religare Commodities Ltd said.
At the begining of the current season India's production was estimated at 32-33 million tonnes. Following a delay of crushing in key growing regions the forecast was later revised down to 28-29 million tonnes.
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