Indonesia had no crude palm oil auction on Wednesday because of Eid-ul-Fitr holidays in some parts and lack of fresh leads, but cooking oil prices rose tracking gains in Malaysia where the Eid holiday has ended.
The state marketing centre, which sells crude palm oil from state plantations, will resume tenders on October 22 while traders in North Sumatra's Medan preferred to stay in the sidelines for fresh leads. Only Astra Agro Lestari, Indonesia's biggest listed plantation firm, held crude palm oil auctions on Wednesday.
"Some dealers still wanted to enjoy the holiday and wait to see how Malaysia does," a trader in Medan said. Malaysian palm oil futures hit a record high on Tuesday, after surging 7 percent in a four-day winning streak, boosting Indonesian cooking prices by up to 4 percent. Malaysian prices were still up early on Wednesday before they fell 2 percent as players cashed in and rival crude oil eased in Asian trade.
The benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 54 ringgit, or 2 percent, to stand at 2,713 ringgit ($802.4) per tonne by 0714 GMT. In Jakarta, cooking oil was quoted at 7,650 rupiah ($0.842) a kilogram, up 4 percent from 7,350 rupiah a kilogram on October 11.
"This week, Malaysia had been gaining quite a lot, this influenced our local prices as we often track them," a cooking oil dealer in Jakarta said. In the export market, crude palm oil for November shipment was offered at $850 a tonne, up $35 a tonne, buyers bid at $840 without any deals reported.