Palm oil on the European vegetable oils market edged up on Friday on the back of a stronger ringgit and a weaker dollar, while bearish stocks and export data limited gains. MPOB data showed Malaysia's palm oil stocks at the end of October rose 8.4 percent to 2.19 million tonnes from the previous month. Malaysian palm oil exports during the first 10 days of November fell between 2.5 and 4.8 percent compared with the same period in October.
Asking prices for palm oil were mostly between unchanged and $5 per tonne higher after Malaysian palm oil futures closed between seven and 21 ringgit per tonne lower. A stronger ringgit makes palm oil more expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies, which weighs on futures as it could cut export demand. At 1700 CBOT, soyaoil futures were between 0.11 and 0.25 cents per lb lower, pressured by Thursday's bearish USDA crop and supply/demand reports and because of weaker energy markets.
EU rapeoil dropped between five and eight euros per tonne, tracking weaker Chicago soyaoil futures and pressured by a weaker dollar, which weighs on euro-priced products. Easier rapeseed futures, down on the bearish USDA reports, added to the softer rapeoil prices. Lauric oils were mostly offered between unchanged and $5 a tonne up from Thursday, up on the back of a weaker dollar, which underpins products quoted in that currency.
"The market was slow overall today and it seemed that players on the European cash market took the Friday to assess the industry data before making business decisions," one broker said.