Malaysian crude palm oil futures barely moved on Thursday as traders awaited a key US report on world grains demand and supply that has recently driven vegetable oil markets. But some investors were concerned that the palm oil market may come under some pressure if export demand slows further on a recent rally that pushed palm oil to a 15-month high earlier this week.
The US government is set to forecast a bigger decline in world wheat stocks and a modest drop in global production as Russia's worst drought in over a century halts exports and threatens to whither the next crop. "There's not much fundamental factors involved, everybody is watching out for the USDA report tonight... there'll be some disturbing factors," said a trader with Kuala Lumpur-based foreign brokerage.
The benchmark October crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended 4 ringgit lower to 2,673 ringgit ($843.2) per tonne. Overall volume doubled to 20,250 lot of 25 tonnes each. Players are on the lookout for a downtrend in exports after cargo surveyors reported a 14 percent drop in Malaysian palm oil exports for the first 10 days in August thanks to China slowing purchases. Other vegetable oils also eased in Asian hours as well. US soyaoil for September delivery eased 0.22 percent and the most-active May soyaoil contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange edged down 1 percent.
INDONESIA PALM TRADES: In Indonesia, Jakarta-based PT KBN Nusantara, formerly known as the state marketing centre, failed to sell 3,000 tonnes of crude palm oil for export in an auction on Thursday due to low bids. The firm offered $860 a tonne, while buyers bid at $850.50 a tonne. Producers in Medan, home to Indonesia's main palm oil export port of Belawan, sold crude palm oil at between 8,141 rupiah ($0.908) to 8,163 rupiah per kg on Thursday.
Refiners in Jakarta offered refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm olein - used as cooking oil - at 8,400 rupiah per kg, decline from 8,700 rupiah per kg the previous day. PT Astra Agro Lestari offered 250 tonnes of super palm kernel oil (PKO) offered in an auction on Thursday at $1,240 per tonne. Buyers bid at $1,138-$1,176 per tonne for the super PKO ex-factory Sari Aditya Loka 1 in Teluk Bayur, Jambi.