Palm on course for longest winning streak in 19 years on improving exports

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Tuesday for a 10th straight session, putting them on track for their longest winning streak since June 2002, as cargo surveyor data showed a fall in exports slowed down during March 1-15 and rival soyoil advanced.

The benchmark palm oil contract for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 18 ringgit, or 0.45%, to 4,038 ringgit ($982.24) a tonne by the midday break.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for March 1-15 fell 1% to 549,273 tonnes from the same period in February, according to data from Societe Generale de Surveillance.

"This is a drastic improvement from March 1-10, which showed a decline of 22%," said Sathia Varqa, co-founder of Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics. "Improving production in Malaysia in March may reverse some of the price gains this week."

European Union palm oil imports in the 2020/21 season that started last July reached 3.87 million tonnes, compared with 4.01 million a year earlier, data published by the European Commission showed on Monday.

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract rose 1.3%, while its palm oil contract gained 0.8%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.8%.

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

Palm oil may drop into a range of 3,959 ringgit to 4,008 ringgit per tonne, as it has left a rising channel, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.