Malaysian palm oil futures snapped a four-day losing streak on Monday as export demand picked up, with prices further lifted as investors covered short positions ahead of a US government report on its grains acreage. The US Department of Agriculture is scheduled release its global supply-demand report for farm products at 1700 GMT that is expected to show ample world supplies.
"There was lots of short covering from foreign trade house and funds ahead of the USDA report tonight," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage in Malaysia. Palm oil prices were also supported by a report from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board that showed end-stocks in the world's No 2 producer rose 3.7 percent to a 20-month high of 2.17 million tonnes in October, just above a Reuters poll estimate of 2.16 million tonnes.
The benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 1.9 percent to 2,237 ringgit ($672) per tonne by Monday's close. Total traded volume stood at 49,488 lots of 25 tonnes, above the daily average of 35,000 lots. Shipments of Malaysian palm oil products rose 1.3 percent to 400,614 tonnes between November 1 and 10, according to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services (ITS), with China increasing imports even as Europe and India trimmed theirs.
Societe Generale de Surveillance reported that exports for the same period eased 0.2 percent to 395,249 tonnes shipped. Technicals were bearish and showed palm oil may fall to 2,180 ringgit per tonne, as indicated by a Fibonacci retracement analysis, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
Last week palm recorded its biggest weekly fall in three months, with a 4.7 percent drop, dragged by steep losses in crude oil and soyoil prices that could dent food and fuel demand for the oil. But on Monday, the US soyoil contract for December rose 0.9 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange gained 1 percent.
Oil markets also recovered. Brent crude rose by $1 towards $85 a barrel on Monday, climbing for a second straight session as protests in Libya disrupted supply and the US dollar fell away from four-year highs. The MPOB said that exports of Malaysian palm oil products in the month of October fell 1.4 percent to 1.61 million tonnes, slightly below expectations of a 3.1 percent drop. Crude palm oil production fell 0.2 percent to 1.89 million tonnes.
Market players said Malaysian palm production is also in focus in November and December. Output typically weakens towards the year-end as the rainy monsoon season unfurls, bringing thunderstorms and heavy floods to plantations. Floods complicate harvesting and transportation of fresh fruit bunches to mills where they have to be quickly crushed, and delays can result in poorer quality of oil produced.
Comments
Comments are closed.