Palm oil rises to track higher rival softs and crude

SINGAPORE: Malaysian palm oil futures rose over 1% on Wednesday to track rival edible oils and crude oil higher.

The benchmark palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 45 ringgit, or 1.14% to 3,976 ringgit ($843.62) a metric ton as of 0249 GMT.

Palm oil ticks up on lower rapeseed projections

It dipped 0.15% during overnight trade.

Fundamentals

• Dalian’s most active soyoil contract edged up 0.05%, while its palm oil contract increased 0.73%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade gained 0.62%.

• China is “importing record high soybeans from South America” after the bumper harvests in Brazil and Argentina, LSEG said in an agriculture report published on Wednesday.

• Grain trade association Coceral cut its rapeseed crop forecast to 19.4 million tons from 20.2 million in its previous forecast and 21.4 million in 2023.

• France’s farm ministry projected the winter rapeseed crop at 4.2 million tons for this year’s harvest, down 1.2% from 2023.

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

• Oil prices ticked higher on Wednesday on upbeat global demand views from the US Energy Information Administration and OPEC.

• Stronger crude oil futures make palm a more attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.

• The Malaysian ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, strengthened 0.08% against the dollar. A stronger ringgit makes palm oil less attractive for foreign currency holders.