Malaysian palm oil futures rebounded on Tuesday after initial profit taking to record a second straight session of gains, as the market anticipated positive data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The benchmark palm oil contract for November delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, which is trading near six-month highs, rose 0.96 percent to 2,829 ringgit ($673). It rose as much as 0.9 percent to 2,836 ringgit earlier in the session following Monday's 1.5 percent gain.
Trading volumes were robust, at 72,166 lots of 25 tonnes each. The USDA was due to release the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report later on Tuesday. "We heard that it will be a friendly report. Palm is expected to trade range-bound between 2,750 and 2,850 ringgit per tonne," said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader.
Palm also tracked upward momentum in soyaoil on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, the trader said. The January soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 0.25 percent, while January palm olein was 1.65 percent higher. The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soyabean oil contract fell 0.43 percent.
Another trader said that with upbeat expectations for the WASDE report, the market was probably seeing some short covering beforehand. Favourable data from Malaysia's industry regulator also continued to bolster overall sentiment, traders said. The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said on Monday that palm oil stocks at end-August rose 8.79 percent to 1.94 million tonnes from July. Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Sept. 1-10 rose 6.9 percent from a month earlier.