Palm oil on the European vegetable oils market firmed slightly on Wednesday on the back of a stronger ringgit. Asking prices for palm oil were between unchanged and $2.50 a tonne higher after Malaysian palm oil futures closed between 3 and 13 ringgit per tonne lower. The stronger ringgit could lead to less export demand because it makes palm oil more expensive for foreign buyers.
At 1630 GMT, CBOT soyaoil futures were between 0.06 and 0.26 cents per lb higher on technicals as CBOT traders sold soyameal futures on positioning ahead of Thursday's USDA planting intentions and quarterly stocks report, and bought back soyaoil contracts. Easier energy markets also limited gains. EU rapeoil was mostly quoted between flat and three euros per tonne higher, following the firmer trend in Chicago soyaoil and because of a recovery in the dollar, which underpins euro-priced products.
Lauric oils were offered between $5 a tonne higher and $10 lower, supported by the stronger ringgit, while a firmer dollar weighed on dollar-priced products. "All in all the market was difficult to play because of currencies and Thursday's USDA data, which is expected to be somewhat bearish," one broker said.