Malaysian palm oil futures were slightly higher on Friday evening, reversing losses from earlier in the day due to low demand, pending the release of data and ahead of a long weekend. The market will be closed on Monday for Labour Day public holiday.
The benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.1 percent at 2,508 ringgit ($578.01) a tonne by the end of the trading day. The market is down 0.9 percent for the week, charting a third consecutive weekly fall. Traded volumes stood at 33,832 lots of 25 tonnes each on Friday evening. "The market is seeing a sideways trading day," said a futures trader, as traders held off ahead of data on exports from cargo surveyors and a Reuters poll forecasting Malaysian April production, end-stocks and exports, both scheduled for release next week.
End-stocks could rise further and dampen benchmark palm oil prices, as production in the world's second-largest producer is expected to rise on seasonal trend while the effects of a crop-damaging El Nino have started to wear off. Demand for palm oil declined in the April 1-25 period on weaker exports to India, according to cargo surveyor data. Shipments fell 1.2 percent, showed Societe Generale de Surveillance while Intertek Testing Services reported a 3.4 percent decline.
In related vegetable oils, soybean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade climbed 0.1 percent, while the September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange slipped up to 0.8 percent. The September contract for palm olein gained 0.04 percent. Palm oil prices are impacted by movements in other related edible oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market. Palm oil may slide into a range of 2,450-2,477 ringgit per tonne, following its failure to break a resistance at 2,542 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals Wang Tao.