KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures on Thursday rose for a second straight session on the back of strength in rival soyaoil, although gains were capped by expectations of a rise in February-end inventories and production.
The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 47 ringgit, or 1.28%, to 3,725 ringgit ($918.62) a tonne.
“The rally of vegetable oil prices, from sunflower to soybean, was the catalyst behind the rally in prices,” said Paramalingam Supramaniam, director at Selangor-based brokerage Pelindung Bestari.
Malaysia’s palm oil inventories at end-February likely rose for a second straight month to touch 1.42 million tonnes, a Reuters survey showed on Thursday.
Production was expected to have risen 5.8% to 1.19 million tonnes, after declining for four months in a row as La Nina weather pattern and a pandemic-induced labour shortage disrupted harvesting. The Malaysian Palm Oil Board is scheduled to release official February supply and demand data on March 10.
Dalian’s most-active soyaoil contract rose 2.3%, while its palm oil contract climbed 1.6%. Soyaoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.7%.
Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.—Reuters
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