Palm posts best day in 11 months on stronger exports, soyoil rally

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures logged their highest daily gain in 11 months, buoyed by stronger April exports and a rally in rival soyoil amid worries about global edible oils supply.

The benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended up 187 ringgit, or 4.83%, at 4,055 ringgit ($981.22) a tonne.

The contract, which logged its highest daily gain since May 27, 2020, rose to an intraday high of 5.14%.

"The rising soy oil prices have provided more room for palm oil to manoeuvre higher even at such high price levels," said Anilkumar Bagani, research head of Mumbai-based vegetable oils broker Sunvin Group.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April rose 13.4%to 1,413,094 tonnes from 1,245,567 tonnes shipped during March, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said on Monday.

The market is now awaiting estimates for April full-month production, which typically see a month-on-month increase, but there are concerns of lower-than-usual output due to a labour shortage amid the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Bagani said.

Demand in the near term could be pressured by increased COVID-19 cases in key destination India, and domestic consumption and imports will also likely be affected by spiralling infections in Malaysia, Refinitiv Agriculture Research wrote in a note.

Refinitiv pegged the benchmark July delivery contract to rise towards a resistance of 4,080 ringgit to 4,100 ringgit a tonne this week.

Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 3.3%. The Dalian exchange was closed for a public holiday.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.