Malaysian crude palm futures ticked up 1.8 percent on Thursday to hit a new one-week high on signs of a rundown in domestic inventories although sentiment was dampened by slow shipments, dealers said. Prices of the reddish-brown tropical oil have risen by more than a third from an October 28.
low of 1,331 ringgit on a better global markets and weakening stocks but have failed to breach the 2,000-ringgit level as big Asian buyers slow purchases. The benchmark April contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives gain 34 ringgit to 1,879 ringgit ($510.5), a level unseen since January 22.
"The news flow is light but weak demand is an issue. Crude appears to have found its floor at around $40 a barrel, so there aren't going to be big moves in palm oil either today," said a head trader with a foreign commodities brokerage.
Malaysia's January palm oil stocks probably slid 6.1 percent to 1.87 million tonnes, their lowest in five months, as output continued to weaken on heavy rains in key harvesting areas, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday. But the pace of the inventory fall from December appeared to slow as shipments overseas likely tumbled 21.2 percent to 1.27 million tonnes, hit by the global recession, according to a median estimate of five plantation houses.
Oil stood little changed around $40 a barrel on Thursday, after falling the previous day on lower share prices and after data showed US crude inventories rose under the weight of an economic slowdown. Soyoil for March delivery crept up in Asian trade in line with the rest of the US soy complex but the most-active May soyoil contract on China's Dalian exchange edged lower.
INDONESIAN PALM TRADE In Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, prices rose nearly 5 percent from last trade on Tuesday, thanks to a weaker rupiah and stronger Malaysian futures, traders said.