Indonesian palm oil prices rose on Monday, lifted by gains in Malaysia but some sellers retreated to the sidelines waiting to see if the gains would continue. The state marketing centre in Jakarta sold crude palm oil at 8,613 rupiah ($0.935) a kilogram, up from 8,411 rupiah a kg on Friday.
"It's just gains in international prices that supported prices because there was nothing unusual with demand from both the local and overseas markets," said an auction official at the state marketing centre.
Producers in North Sumatra's Medan did not hold any auction. "Malaysia has gained in the past days but the gains are not much. So sellers want to see if the gains persist tomorrow," said a dealer in a plantation firm in Medan, where Belawan port, the key port for palm oil exports, is located.
Malaysian crude palm oil futures climbed 2.6 percent on Monday as investors bet on a rise in Indian demand after the world's second largest edible oils consumer scrapped import duties last week. The benchmark June contract ended up 85 ringgit at 3,382 ringgit ($1,061) on the day.
In Jakarta, refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm olein - used as cooking oil - was quoted higher at between around 9,200 rupiah a kilogram, from 9,050-9,100 rupiah a kg on Friday.
"We tried to offer around 9,500 rupiah but buyers did not want to buy at that level. So we did not sell any cooking oil today," said a cooking oil dealer at a Jakarta-based refiner. There was no quotation for crude palm oil in the export market.