Palm ticks higher on strong partial exports; MPOB data in focus

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil firmed on Monday, as traders readied for the palm oil board data, with an uptick in July 1-10 exports and stronger rival soyoil aiding sentiment.

The benchmark palm oil contract for September delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 2 ringgit, or 0.05%, to 3,894 ringgit ($929.58) a tonne by the midday break. Last week, it jumped 2.7%.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for July 1-10 rose between 2% and 4% from the same period in June, cargo surveyors said on Saturday, beating market expectations of a decline in shipments.

Malaysia's end-June palm oil stocks rose 2.8% from the previous month to a nine-month peak of 1.61 million tonnes, according to Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) data released during the midday break.

Palm oil jumps over 3pc

Crude palm oil production gained 2.2% from May to 1.61 million tonnes, while palm oil exports jumped 11.8% to 1.42 million tonnes, MPOB said.

"MPOB data is neutral for the market and now attention is turned to the July production and export numbers," said Anilkumar Bagani, research head of Mumbai-based vegetable oils broker Sunvin Group.

But investors will mostly look to the external markets, particularly soy oil and canola oil for price action trend, he added.

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

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract rose 1.4%, while its palm oil contract jumped 1.6%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 1.2%.

Signals are mixed for palm oil, as it recovered strongly from last week's drop, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.