Indonesian crude palm oil prices eased on Thursday, tracking softer prices in Malaysia, while tight supply offered support for cooking oil prices. The state marketing centre did not hold auctions for the local market but producers in North Sumatra's Medan sold crude palm oil at 10,515-10,555 rupiah a kilogram, down from 10,730-10,980 rupiah a kilo on Tuesday.
There was no auction in Medan on Wednesday. "Prices cannot go up all the time. So it's a refreshing change from the rally," said a dealer in a plantation company in Medan, the country's key port for palm oil exports.
Malaysia crude palm oil futures hit a record high of 4,486 ringgit a tonne on Tuesday, but then came off on rumours that China could intervene to curb rising prices.
The benchmark May contract on the bursa Malaysia ended down 92 ringgit at 4,003 ringgit a tonne on Thursday. But tight supply of crude palm oil offered support for the price of refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm oil which rose to 12,000 rupiah a kilogram from 11,750 rupiah a kg on Wednesday.
"Crude palm oil shipments have been delayed. Many buyers ring in to place orders but we have little cooking oil left," said a cooking oil dealer in Jakarta. On the export front, sellers offered crude palm oil for delivery in March at $1,290 a tonne. Buyers bid $1,245 a tonne but no deals were reported.
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