Palm pulls back from record high, but logs 8% weekly jump

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures plunged 7% on Friday, but posted their best week since October on strong demand and as Russia's attack on Ukraine stoked worries about global edible oil supplies.

The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 469 ringgit, or 7.3%, to 5,984 ringgit ($1,425.27) a tonne, a day after it hit a record high.

The steep fall erased the war-risk premium accumulated on Thursday, said Sathia Varqa, co-founder of Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics.

For the week, palm rose 8%, its biggest percentage gain since Oct. 8, also helped by better-than-expected exports in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Exports from Malaysia during Feb. 1-25 rose between 25% and 27.9% from the same week in January, cargo surveyors said.

Palm hits all-time high on supply concerns due to Ukraine crisis

In Indonesia, exports are estimated at 2.34 million tonnes in January, while exports between Feb. 1-24 are seen at 1.70 million tonnes, said Eddy Abdurrachman, chief executive of the agency in charge of collecting palm oil levies (BPDPKS).

In India, sunflower oil shipments from the Black sea region are stuck at ports and with producers after ports suspended operations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, pushing buyers to turn to soyoil and palm oil for March and April shipments, dealers said.

There is a grave risk of physical disruption to the supply of agricultural commodities from Ukraine and Russia, as the key Black Sea ports are likely to be at the heart of military conflict on top of risks of Ukraine's crop being damaged by incursions, Capital Economics said in a note.

"We think agricultural prices could rise further in the near term given the uncertainty about the supply of grains and sunflower seed, and the prospect of higher (fossil-fuel based) fertiliser prices," Capital Economics said.

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract fell 0.5%, while its palm oil contract gained 0.2%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 2%.