JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures opened up on Thursday, tracking strength in rival vegetable oils on the Dalian Commodity Exchange.

The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 36 ringgit or 0.92% at 3,943 ringgit ($828.54) per metric ton in the morning trade.

Malaysian palm oil futures drop

Fundamentals

• The soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 0.36%, while its palm oil contract rose 0.95%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 0.38%.

• Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share of the global vegetable oils market.

• Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for the Feb. 1-25 period dropped between 6.3% and 14%, cargo surveyors data showed.

• Indonesia plans to lower its crude palm oil reference price for the March 1-31 period to $798.90 and keep the export tax and levy at $33 and $85 per ton, respectively. The regulation stating the new reference price is yet to be published.

• Indonesia’s palm oil output this year is expected to rise by 5% year-on-year to 57.6 million tons, while export is expected to stagnate at 32 million to 33 million tons, the Indonesia Palm Oil Association said on Tuesday.

• Palm oil may break resistance at 3,938 ringgit per metric ton, and rise into the 3,970-3,992 ringgit range, according to Reuters’ technical analyst Wang Tao.