Palm oil on the European vegetable oils market was firmer on Thursday tracking stronger Malaysian palm oil futures on the back of a weaker ringgit. A weaker ringgit makes palm oil cheaper for foreign buyers, which could boost export demand. Asking prices for palm oil were mostly between unchanged and $5 a tonne higher after Malaysian palm oil futures closed up by between 10 and 26 ringgit per tonne.
"As the stronger ringgit supported futures, at the same time it limited gains in palm oil on the European cash market," one broker said. At 1630 GMT CBOT soyaoil futures were between 0.02 and 0.10 cents per lb down, with ample soya supplies and a record-large Brazilian soyabean harvest weighing, while stronger energy prices limited losses. EU rapeoil was offered between one euro per tonne down and two euros up from Wednesday on a mild rebound from recent losses and because of a recovering dollar and energy prices, which could improve demand from biodiesel producers. Coconut oil was offered between unchanged and $10 a tonne down while palmkernel oil tracked firm palm oil and was offered between $10 and $25 a tonne higher. A slightly stronger dollar was also supportive.