Indonesian palm oil mixed

Indonesian palm oil prices were mixed on Friday, with players still nervous over government intentions on the palm oil export tax and with interest also dampened by a dip in Malaysian futures.
In Jakarta, the state marketing centre which sells palm oil from state plantations, crude palm oil was sold at 6,649 rupiah ($0.739) a kilogram, up from 6,636 rupiah on Thursday as refiners need to refill stocks.
"Refiners haven't bought for sometime because they are watching prices. Now, they have to buy to replenish their stocks," said Aziz Kara, the head of palm oil sales at the centre.
There was no auction in North Sumatra's Medan, the leading port for palm oil exports. "Players are watching where the prices will be heading next week. So, the market is a bit quiet today," said a trader in Medan. A senior government official said on Friday Indonesia is considering lowering the export tax on palm oil products if local cooking oil prices ease.
Last week, the government raised the export tax on crude palm oil to 6.5 percent from 1.5 percent and palm oil products to 6.5 percent from 0.3 percent, to stabilise cooking oil prices which are up about 30 percent this year.
Prices of non-brand cooking oil consumed by low-to-middle income brackets have eased to 8,800 rupiah ($0.97) a kilogram from 9,000 rupiah since the tax was raised, said Bayou Krisnamurthi, deputy to the co-ordinating economics minister.
But it was still higher than the governments target of 6,500-6,800 rupiah a kg. "We keep evaluating but we're optimistic it can be lowered when cooking oil prices are down," said Krisnamurthi.
Losses in the neighbouring Malaysian market also dampened trading interest. Indonesia often tracks Malaysian crude palm futures. Malaysia crude palm oil futures slipped on Friday in light trade as the market awaited new leads with the benchmark September contract was down 2 ringgit at 2,386 ringgit ($691) a tonne.
Cooking oil in Jakarta was sold at 7,350 rupiah a kilogram, easing from 7,400-7,500 rupiah on Thursday, tracking the weakening Malaysian market, said a trader in Jakarta.
At the export market, sellers offered July shipment at $740 a tonne free on board Begawan. Buyers bid at $730 dollar a tonne without any deals reported. A few deals were made overnight at $732.5 a tonne free on board Begawan for July shipment and $697.5 for October-December shipment. But there were no details on quantity and destination.