Malaysian palm oil futures rose to a one-week high on Wednesday evening, tracking stronger related edible oils, but pared some gains late in the session as the market traded cautiously ahead of the release of industry data. Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance are scheduled to release data for Malaysian exports during the August 1-10 period on Thursday, while the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) is due to announce inventory, production and export figures for July.
A Reuters poll of nine traders, planters and analysts forecast Malaysian output in July will rise 11 percent to 1.68 million tonnes, leading to a 6.5 percent rise in inventory levels to 1.63 million tonnes. Exports are seen up 4 percent to 1.43 million tonnes. The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.04 percent to 2,630 ringgit ($613.48) at the close of trade. It earlier rose to 2,654 ringgit, its highest since August 1.
Traded volumes stood at 32,666 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day. "Palm oil is likely to extend prior gains on the back of persistent gains in rival oilseed and China's palm olein," said a futures trader from Kuala Lumpur, referring to overnight gains in soyaoil on the Chicago Board of Trade.
"The market however may trade cautiously ahead of the MPOB data and first 10 days' exports estimates from cargo surveyors." Palm oil production typically picks up in the second half of the year in line with seasonal trends, but uncertainty remains over the extent of its gains as palm trees are still seeing the lingering effects of a crop-damaging El Nino weather pattern.
The October soyabean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade, which gained 0.8 percent on Tuesday, was last up 0.4 percent on Wednesday. The January soyabean oil on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 1.5 percent, while the January palm olein contract was up 1.8 percent.
Comments
Comments are closed.