KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures succumbed to profit taking on Wednesday after rising past a record 7,000 ringgit, ending a scorching two-day rally propelled by supply disruptions from the Russian-Ukraine crisis.
The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended 104 ringgit higher, or 1.54%, to 6,658 ringgit ($1,587.51) a tonne, after falling as much as 6% earlier in the day.
It jumped 5% in intraday trade to an all-time high of 7,108 ringgit, as sunflower oil supply from the Black Sea region halted following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The front-month contract touched a record high of 8,759 ringgit.
The high price is curbing demand, said Mitesh Saiya, trading manager at Mumbai-based trading firm Kantilal Laxmichand & Co.
“Indian pipeline is drying and we need to buy replacement for sunflowers oil, but importers and Indian buyers can’t digest this price.”
Palm oil has become the costliest among the four major edible oils for the first time as buyers rush to secure replacements for the loss of sunflower oil shipments.
India has asked Indonesia, which has a restriction on exports to calm local prices, to increase palm oil shipments to the country, several government and industry sources in India told Reuters.
“The cloud of uncertainties over the Black Sea sun oil export, and tightness in other competing oils - soy oil and rapeseed oil - are providing palm oil an opportunity to hang on to record high prices,” said Anilkumar Bagani, research head of Mumbai-based vegetable oils broker Sunvin Group.
Palm oil prices have risen more than 40% so far this year after three straight years of sharp gains.
Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract rose 2.5% on Wednesday, while its palm oil contract gained 4.4%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.9% after hitting an all-time high overnight.
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