Malaysian palm oil futures rebounded from losses in its first half trading session, rising on Friday evening due to a weaker ringgit and expectations of stronger export data. The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.8 percent at 2,514 ringgit ($638.56) a tonne at the end of the trading day, its third straight day of gains.
It is also up 1.9 percent this week, its strongest weekly gain in five weeks. Trading volumes stood at 48,195 lots of 25 tonnes each at Friday evening. "Palm is up on a weaker ringgit and on expectations of stronger exports," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader, referring to February 1-10 export data from a cargo surveyor scheduled for release on Saturday.
Shipments of the tropical oil have slumped in recent weeks, and is forecast to fall 8 percent to 1.31 million tonnes for the full month of January, according to a Reuters poll. Losses in the ringgit also gave support to palm by making it cheaper for foreign buyers. The Malaysian currency weakened by 0.3 percent against the dollar to 3.9370 around Friday evening.
In other related edible oils, the March soyabean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 0.6 percent after shedding over 1 percent on Thursday. May soyabean oil on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.1 percent, while the Dalian May palm oil contract was up 0.2 percent.
Palm oil prices are impacted by other rival edible oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market. Palm oil looks neutral in a narrow range of 2,481-2,520 ringgit per tonne, according to Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
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